sqlite3pp as header-only library
jpetso opened this issue · 11 comments
The code is mostly forwarding to sqlite3 functions directly, and no build system is provided as sqlite3pp is meant to be included directly into the project tree (as far as I understand it). I think this makes it a perfect candidate for being a header-only library.
I would imagine it needs only a few changes:
- Declare all exportable symbols (probably just class methods) as inline.
- Rename .cpp files to .ipp and include them from the .h
- Put all of that into a folder include/sqlite3pp, so parent projects can add [sqlite3pp-repo]/include to their include directories.
This would also reduce the need for something like PR #10 (although a similar CMake script to install the header files could make life easier for users not using git submodule).
I'm not so sure about making this header-only. It has a benefit of easier installation but has some disadvantages too such as compilation time.
I still prefer having cpp files.
Given the (fairly minimal) amount of code in sqlite3pp compared to existing system headers, and the number of files that you're actually likely to use it in, I don't believe compilation time to be much of an issue. (Much bigger libraries such as Boost or websocketpp do header-only on a routine basis and while Boost is not loved everywhere, compilation times are the least of complaints I hear/read about it.)
Header-only also has the advantage that no symbol clashes can occur. As an example, if I build sqlite3pp as part of my libsomething.a and also include it in libsomethingelse.a, I can't link both of them together into a single executable without first factoring out sqlite3pp into a separate library (which was what issue #10 wanted to do but you were not in favour of it). With a header-only library, no symbols are exported so I can link both of my libraries together without any further work.
However, I understand that this is your project so you have final say over its direction. Thank you for considering it :)
I would also love to see this feature
+1
fyi, I'm considering this change positively.
+1
Can some of you test this branch if you are interested in header only version of sqlite3pp?
https://github.com/iwongu/sqlite3pp/tree/headeronly/headeronly_src
I merged it to master branch. I'm closing this issue. Please report bugs if you find any in header only version.
Thanks! :D
I'll try it out and report back if something turns out not to work.
Since you left a note on the README, I thought I'd comment to say that we're trying it and it seems to work here :)