c++ - avoiding template definition in header file -

this question has answer here:

• why can templates implemented in header file? 13 answers

i have following class defined in header a.h :

class {  private:  template<int i> void method();  }; 

is there way me keep implementation of method in own a.cpp file , usual method implementations ? i'm asking because puting implementation in a.h make interface hard read, since it's private function.

it ever instanciated limited values of "i" if matters

you can following (as it's used practice):

a.hpp

---

class {  private:  template<int i> void method();  };  #include "a.tcc" 

a.tcc

---

template<int i> void a::method() {     // } 

note it's important name implementation file different extension .cpp actually, because confuse of standard build system environments (unless have complete manual selection of translation unit files).

---

if want have specialized implementations values of i, can provide them follows:

// specialization 1 template<> void a::method<1>() {     // specialization 1 }  template<> void a::method<2>() {     // specialization 2 }