I understood, that I should not use this in a header file:
using namespace foo;
Because it brings the namespace foo in the global scope for anyone who uses my header file.
Can I prevent this from happening, if I do it in my own namespace? For example like this:
namespace my_lib
{
using namespace foo;
// my stuff
// ...
}
Now the using namespace foo should be restricted to the scope of the namespace my_lib, right?
Yes. That is better than using using namespace foo at global level.
Yet better would be if you use foo::name syntax.
Now the using namespace foo should be restricted to the scope of the namespace my_lib, right?
Yes. It brings all the names from the namespace foo in the namespace my_lib which might cause name collisions in my_lib. That is why foo::name is the most preferrable approach.
my_lib would almost always need to use foo as well it makes sense to combine their scope.
my_lib might refer to other names from other dozen namespaces, so does it mean that it should use using namespace xyz for all namespaces?
Yes, if you do that then it just brings all the names from foo into my_lib -- which, as others have pointed out, may or may not be desirable.
One thing I would observe in addition to what others have said is that you can use the 'using directive within a namespace' idea as a way of simulating a using directive that is restricted to class scope. Note that this is illegal:
class C
{
using namespace boost; // for example
// ...
};
But you can do this instead:
namespace C_Namespace {
using namespace boost;
class C
{
};
}
using C_Namespace::C; // bring C itself back into the global namespace
Just thought you might find it useful if what you really want is to be able to define something (like a class) without writing a particular namespace prefix the whole time.
foointo namespacemy_lib. Is this really what you want for your users? It may be better than polluting the global namespace, but you're still polluting a namespace...foo::bar::box::action()you wantmy_lib::action()In this situation what you want is namespace aliasnamespace my_lib = foo::bar::box;