Is there any difference between #include "./test.h" and #include "test.h" for C/C++ preprocessor?
+4
A:
No, there is no difference.
You could also have
#include "../thisdir/test.h"
And it would be the same
Tom
2009-10-22 11:01:30
You would have to change all your #includes if you renamed the directory though
Jeffrey Aylesworth
2009-10-22 11:02:31
And if I did "../../thisdir/test.h", it would be a nightmare :)
Tom
2009-10-22 11:05:04
+1
A:
According to the C standard, there is no difference: the compiler gets to specify how they are searched. In practice, there shouldn't be any difference, either, for any of the implementations I am aware of.
Lars Wirzenius
2009-10-22 11:01:44
A:
In my opinion there is an important difference.
In the case of #include "test.h" the include file is searched for in all directories specified to the compiler with the option -I.
In the case of #include "./test.h" only the residing directory of the referring file is used.
Juan Macek
2009-10-22 11:07:17
Isnt the -I option used for adding "standard " directories to the include path ( that is, a directory that will be scanned on an angled bracket include )
Tom
2009-10-22 11:10:16
@Tom, assuming we are talking about gcc, -I specifies directories to search for both "" and <> includes. You can use -isystem to specify paths that should only be searched for angle brackets.
Nick Meyer
2009-10-22 11:20:15
Not true. Both will still search through all directories. Just that "" will search the local directories before looking at those specified with -I
sep
2009-10-22 11:37:31
+1
A:
Both styles will be treated the same by the pre-processor. The standard practice is
#include "test.h"
and pass the include file path as an option to the compiler. (For instance, the -I option of GCC). This makes it easy to change the location of header files. You just need to make a single change in the project's make file.
Vijay Mathew
2009-10-22 11:07:44