Consider the code below:
header.h:
#pragma once
template<class T>
void f(T const& val);
header.cpp:
#include "header.h"
template<class T>
void f(T const& val)
{
}
main.cpp:
int main()
{
f(5);
}
The compiler output is a link error which states:
error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "void __cdecl f<int>(int const &)" (??$f@H@@YAXABH@Z) referenced in function _main
I know that if I place the body of template function in header.h, my problem will be solved. But why? Why linker can find the body of non template functions but cannot find the body of template functions?
