Forward declaration in C++

Why need use forward declaration? when we can use it? I will figure out these problem separately.

Why

Forward-declarations can significantly reduce build times
Break cyclic references where two definitions both use each other

File Car.h

#include "Wheel.h"  // Include Wheel's definition so it can be used in Car.
#include <vector>

class Car
{
    std::vector<Wheel> wheels;
};

File Wheel.h

class Car;     // forward declaration

class Wheel
{
    Car* car;
};

When

Put yourself in the compiler’s position: when you forward declare a type, all the compiler knows is that this type exists; it knows nothing about its size, members, or methods. This is why it’s called an incomplete type. Therefore, you cannot use the type to declare a member, or a base class, since the compiler would need to know the layout of the type.

Assuming the following forward declaration.

class X;

Here’s what you can and cannot do.

What you can do with an incomplete type:

Declare a member to be a pointer or a reference to the incomplete type:

class Foo {
    X *pt;
    X &pt;
};

Declare functions or methods which accept/return incomplete types:

void f1(X);
X    f2();

Define functions or methods which accept/return pointers/references to the incomplete type (but without using its members):

void f3(X*, X&) {}
X&   f4()       {}
X*   f5()       {}

What you cannot do with an incomplete type:

Use it as a base class

class Foo : X {} // compiler error!
Use it to declare a member:
class Foo {
    X m; // compiler error!
};

Define functions or methods using this type

void f1(X x) {} // compiler error!
X    f2()    {} // compiler error!

Use its methods or fields, in fact trying to dereference a variable with incomplete type

class Foo {
    X *m;            
    void method()            
    {
        m->someMethod();      // compiler error!
        int i = m->someField; // compiler error!
    }
};

When it comes to templates, there is no absolute rule: whether you can use an incomplete type as a template parameter is dependent on the way the type is used in the template.

For instance, std::vector<T> requires its parameter to be a complete type, while boost::container::vector<T> does not. Sometimes, a complete type is required only if you use certain member functions; this is the case for std::unique_ptr<T>, for example.

A well-documented template should indicate in its documentation all the requirements of its parameters, including whether they need to be complete types or not.

Menu

Why

When