Converting a C++ program into C#

Question

I'm working on a project where I'm converting C++ code to C# manually. I have working knowledge of C# but I've never used C++ before.

What I need to know is how to deal with the header files, since C# does't have anything like that. Say I have buffer.h and buffer.cpp, would I just convert them both and include them in the same buffer.cs file?

Is the C++ header file in any way related to an Ada spec file?

Answer 1

It might help you to think of a C++ header file as containing two major types of things: the class definition, which defines its member data and "interface" (not to be confused with a C# interface type) and "other stuff". The class definition part contains method prototypes and class member variables.

The good news concerning the prototypes is that you simply don't need them in C#. Clients of your class receive prototype information from the implementation itself via the assembly for the namespace. The data members are contained within your C# class implementation, typically as private members which are exposed through C# properties.

The "other stuff" mentioned above can include #defines, which you typically want to turn into const definitions in C#. Other things such as enumerations have equivalents in C# which you of course move into the .cs file for your class.

Answer 2

The distinction between includes ".h files" and source ".cpp files" is only one of convention. The convention is that declaration (functions, classes, etc) are in .h files which are #included in implementation (definition), or .cpp files. For most cases you're fine in collapsing X.h and X.cpp to a single X.cs file.

That said, you still need to take a look at what is going on in each file. A basic understanding of C++ would go a long way here, and something I strongly recommend you acquire before you get too far into your translation.