User:Decltype/export

One particular point of contention is the export keyword, intended to allow template definitions to be separated from their declarations. The first compiler to implement export was Comeau C/C++, in early 2003 (5 years after the release of the standard); in 2004, the beta compiler of Borland C++ Builder X was also released with export. Both of these compilers are based on the EDG C++ front end. Other compilers such as GCC do not support it at all. Many C++ books (such as Beginning ANSI C++ by Ivor Horton) provide example code with the keyword that will not compile in most compilers, without reference to this problem. Herb Sutter, former convener of the C++ standards committee, recommended that export be removed from future versions of the C++ standard. During the March 2010 ISO C++ standards meeting, the C++ standards committee voted to remove exported templates entirely from C++0x but reserve the keyword for future use.