Mixing Objective-C and C++

I'm trying to mix Objective-C with C++. When I compile the code, I get several errors.

A.h

#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
#include "B.h"

@interface A : NSView {
    B *b;
}

-(void) setB: (B *) theB;

@end

A.m

#import "A.h"

@implementation A

- (id)initWithFrame:(NSRect)frame {
    self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
    if (self) {
        // Initialization code here.
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)dirtyRect {
    // Drawing code here.
}

-(void) setB: (B *) theB {
    b = theB;
}

@end

B.h

#include <iostream>

class B {

    B() {
        std::cout << "Hello from C++";
    }

};

Here are the errors:

/Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/B.h:1:0 /Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/B.h:1:20: error: iostream: No such file or directory
/Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/B.h:3:0 /Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/B.h:3: error: expected '=', ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before 'B'
/Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.h:5:0 /Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.h:5: error: expected specifier-qualifier-list before 'B'
/Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.h:8:0 /Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.h:8: error: expected ')' before 'B'
/Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.m:26:0 /Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.m:26: error: expected ')' before 'B'
/Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.m:27:0 /Users/helixed/Desktop/Example/A.m:27: error: 'b' undeclared (first use in this function)

Solution 1:

You need to name your .m files .mm. And you will be able to compile C++ code with Objective-C.

So, following your example, your AView.m file should be named AView.mm. It's simple as that. It works very well. I use a lot of std containers (std::vector, std::queue, etc) and legacy C++ code in iPhone projects without any complications.

Solution 2:

Never mind, I feel stupid. All you have to do is rename AView.m to AView.mm so the compiler knows it's Objective-C++, and it compiles without a problem.

Solution 3:

you could keep the interface cleaner with forward declaration of C++ classes:

#import <AnObjCclass.h>
class DBManager; // This is a C++ class. NOTE: not @class

@interface AppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate,
                                    CLLocationManagerDelegate,
                                    MFMailComposeViewControllerDelegate>
{
    DBManager* db;
...
}