It is common for header-only libraries: you need to include this header in one c++ using the macro for linking (don't use that macro in other c++ files to avoid duplicate symbols). In C++, you can declare a function as many times as you want, but you can only define it (write the actual body) once in the entire project.
replyI understand that part, but I don't see why do this instead of basic Makefile or CMake setup. It seems like more work than a regular linker at that point. For what purpose?
replyBecause not everyone is using Makefiles or CMake.
replyA true header-only library should be build-system agnostic and this is one way to do that.
We can argue about build systems for C++ all day long and never come to an agreement. With this approach this piece of code can be used anywhere.
that's a common pattern in C++ land because there is no standard way to use libraries in C++
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