Modern C++ Programming Cookbook

How it works...

The pimpl idiom the enables hiding the internal implementation of a class from the clients of the library or module the class is part of. This provides several benefits:

• A clean interface for a class that its clients see.
• Changes in the internal implementation do not affect the public interface, which enables binary backward compatibility for newer versions of a library (when the public interface remains unchanged).
• Clients of a class that uses this idiom do not need to be recompiled when changes to the internal implementation occur. This leads to lesser build times.
• The header file does not need to include the headers for the types and functions used in the private implementation. This again leads to lesser build times. ...