Problem using templates

[kiid]

Alright so my teacher said I have to have the header and implementation files separate so I can't combine them. I just posting a test file but this same error keeps popping up when I try to do the problem assigned.

header

#ifndef _test

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

template <class T>

class test
{
public:
	test();
};

#include "test.cpp"
#endif 

implementation

template <class T>
test <T>::test()
{
}

this gives me

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1

1>Build started 9/12/2013 4:25:05 PM. 1>InitializeBuildStatus: 1> Touching "Debug\test.unsuccessfulbuild". 1>ClCompile: 1> test.cpp 1>c:\users\gau\desktop\test\test.cpp(2): error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '<' 1>c:\users\gau\desktop\test\test.cpp(2): error C4430: missing type specifier - int assumed. Note: C++ does not support default-int 1>c:\users\gau\desktop\test\test.cpp(2): error C2988: unrecognizable template declaration/definition 1>c:\users\gau\desktop\test\test.cpp(2): error C2059: syntax error : '<' 1> 1>Build FAILED. 1> 1>Time Elapsed 00:00:00.36 ========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

I have tried removing the #include "test.cpp" from the header and putting in
#include "test.h" in the implementation file but that gives me a linker error.

So how do I fix this?

[Stewbond]

It's usually a good idea to split implementation and definition, however in the case of templates, you must have the implementation in the header. This is because templates are resolved during compile-time, and are not available to the linker.

One work-around that is sometimes used is to use inline (.inl) files:

// test.h
#ifndef _test
#define _test

template <class T>
class test
{
public:
    test();
};

#include "test.inl"

#endif 

// test.inl
template <class T>
test<T>::test() {}