What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing classes in header files?

Question

I love the concept of DRY (don\'t repeat yourself [oops]), yet C++\'s concept of header files goes against this rule of programming. Is there any drawback to defining a clas

Answer 1

The main disadvantage (apart from the lengthy builds) is there is no clear separation of the interface and implementation.

Ideally, you should not need to see the implementation of an intuitive, and well documented interface.