c++ namespace best practice dilemma

Question

I\'m finding that what I\'ve considered \"best practice\" for use namespace in c++ is hurting the readability of my code, and making me question how to use them well.

My

Answer 1

I use the following to get rid of enormous amounts of std:: in header file:

// mylibrary.h
namespace myproject {
  namespace mylibrary {
    namespace impl {

      using namespace std;

      namespace stripped_std {

        // Here goes normal structure of your program:
        // classes, nested namespaces etc.
        class myclass;
        namespace my_inner_namespace {
                ...     
        }

       } // namespace stripped_std   
    } // namespace impl

  using namespace impl::stripped_std;

  } // namespace mylibrary
} namespace myproject


// Usage in .cpp file
#include 
using namespace myproject::mylibrary;

It is similar to what was suggested by n.m., but with a modification: there is one more auxiliary namespace stripped_std. The overall effect is that line using namespace myproject::mylibrary; allows you to refer to the inner namespace structure, and at the same time it does not bring namespace std into library user's scope.

---

It's a pity though that the following syntax

using namespace std {
...
}

is not valid in C++ at the time when this post is written.