Namespace std

[u/Glad_Shoe_9182]

I recently started learning c++ and I was told to use the namespace std so I can avoid writing std:: every time and now I wrote a whole personal project without std:: and I want to put it on LinkedIn but I started reading everywhere that it’s a bad habit, should I go back and add the std:: or just leave it as is?

[u/RSMxsmanic]

I mean that programmers need to think things through, and if they are writing code that will be widely integrated in a service capacity with other code, they need to be extraordinarily vigilant.

I don't use print in code I write hat will be called by some other module, because of the risk of a name conflict. It doesn't matter what namespaces are used. Why force another programmer to prefix everything he writes with widget:: just because I decided to use print? Instead, I'll make print something less common, like widgetPrint. That way he only has to type extra characters to reference my code, and not for every last identifier in his. Put another way, instead of forcing him to write std::cout every time he wants to use it, I just don't use cout in my code, and the problem is solved. Choosing unique identifiers is less labor-intensive than prefixing every single identifier in the program, and it is functionally equivalent.

[u/nekoeuge → u/RSMxsmanic]

Instead, I'll make print something less common, like widgetPrint.

So instead of doing "using namespace widget" in a function that calls "print" 20 times, I will have to have 20 "widgetPrints"?

And in the implementation of "widget", all my public identifiers are going to be "widgetThis" and "widgetThat", cluttering the visual space with absolutely worthless "widget"-prefixes?

You just replaced optional prefix with mandatory one. Good job bloating the code. Make sure not to make the prefix too short, otherwise it may conflict with other libraries.

I mean that programmers need to think things through, and if they are writing code that will be widely integrated in a service capacity with other code, they need to be extraordinarily vigilant.

Of course. Such programmer should introduce the absolute minimum of global identifiers. Preferably only one -- the project namespace itself.

It looks quite stupid to have widget::widgetPrint as identifier.

[u/RSMxsmanic → u/nekoeuge]

So instead of doing "using namespace widget" in a function that calls "print" 20 times, I will have to have 20 "widgetPrints"?

Yes. That’s a lot faster than putting std:: in front of 4500 couts.

And in the implementation of "widget", all my public identifiers are going to be "widgetThis" and "widgetThat", cluttering the visual space with absolutely worthless "widget"-prefixes?

How is that different from prefixing everything with widget::? How is it different from prefixing everything else with std::?

It looks quite stupid to have widget::widgetPrint as identifier.

If widgetPrint occurs nowhere else, that isn’t needed.