C++ header-only template library

Question

Looking at this project (http://www.savarese.com/software/libssrckdtree/) I found the definition \"C++ header-only template library\". At the moment I have basic C++ knowled

Answer 1

It means that there are no modules in the library, only headers. That means the library can be used without requiring it to be first compiled and later linked in; just include the headers in your own source modules.

The benefits of this approach are

1. It's easier to include, since you don't need to specify linker options in your build system.
2. You always compile all the library code with the same compiler (options) as the rest of your code, since the library's functions get inlined in your code.
3. It may be a lot faster.

In this case, the container datastructure implemented templated on the type of data it contains, so it cannot be fully compiled.