Type-safe linkage for variables and functions
Diomidis D. Spinellis · ACM SIGPLAN Notices · 1991
In a separate compilation environment type checks across modules are difficult to implement, because the natural place to perform them, the linker, is rarely under the control of the compiler developer. A solution to this problem, presented in the C++ Reference Manual, does not cope with global variables and function return types. It is asserted that lifting those limitations would require modifying the linker or providing an environment for separate compilation. We present a solution that lifts the limitations within the existing scheme.