Thread: New to class templates

I'm new to class templates (templates in general, actually) and I'm trying to figure out why this won't compile.

Code:

// MATRIX.h
#ifndef MATRIX_H
#define MATRIX_H

template <typename T>
class Matrix {
public:
        Matrix(int rows, int cols);
        Matrix(const Matrix &other);
        virtual ~Matrix();

        Matrix& operator=(const Matrix &rhs);
        T* operator[](int i);
        int getRows() const;
        int getCols() const;

protected:
        void copy(const Matrix &other);

private:
        Matrix();
        int m_rows;
        int m_cols;
        T *m_linArray;
};

#include "MATRIX.cpp"
#endif /* MATRIX_H */

Code:

// MATRIX.cpp
#include "MATRIX.h"

template <typename T>
Matrix<T>::Matrix()
{}

template <typename T>
Matrix<T>::Matrix(int rows, int cols) {
        m_rows = rows;
        m_cols = cols;
        m_linArray = new T[m_rows * m_cols];
}

template <typename T>
Matrix<T>::Matrix(const Matrix &other) {
        copy(other);
}

template <typename T>
Matrix<T>::~Matrix() {
        delete[] m_linArray;
}

template <typename T>
Matrix<T>& 
Matrix<T>::operator=(const Matrix &other) {
        if( this != &other ) {
                delete[] m_linArray;
                copy(other);
        }

        return *this;
}

template <typename T>
T* Matrix<T>::operator[](int i) {
        return m_linArray + (i*m_cols);
}

template <typename T>
void 
Matrix<T>::copy(const Matrix &other) {
        m_rows = other.m_rows;
        m_cols = other.m_cols;

        int size = m_rows * m_cols;
        m_linArray = new T[size];
        for( int i=0; i < size; i++ ) {
                m_linArray[i] =
		other.m_linArray[i];
        }
}

template <typename T>
int Matrix<T>::getRows() const {
  return m_rows;
}

template <typename T>
int Matrix<T>::getCols() const {
  return m_cols;
}

I'm getting the following errors:
.\TEMP.cpp(4) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '<'
1>.\TEMP.cpp(4) : error C4430: missing type specifier - int assumed. Note: C++ does not support default-int
1>.\TEMP.cpp(4) : error C2988: unrecognizable template declaration/definition
1>.\TEMP.cpp(4) : error C2059: syntax error : '<'
1>.\TEMP.cpp(8) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '{'
1>.\TEMP.cpp(8) : error C2447: '{' : missing function header (old-style formal list?)
1>.\TEMP.cpp(15) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '<'
1>.\TEMP.cpp(15) : error C4430: missing type specifier - int assumed. Note: C++ does not support default-int
1>.\TEMP.cpp(15) : error C2086: 'int Matrix' : redefinition
1> .\TEMP.cpp(4) : see declaration of 'Matrix'
1>.\TEMP.cpp(15) : error C2988: unrecognizable template declaration/definition
1>.\TEMP.cpp(15) : error C2059: syntax error : '<'
1>.\TEMP.cpp(20) : error C2588: '::~Matrix' : illegal global destructor
1>.\TEMP.cpp(20) : fatal error C1903: unable to recover from previous error(s); stopping compilation

Is there something wrong with the syntax? Or perhaps I'm not including something I need to include? I've tried compiling this with both Visual C++ and g++ to no avail. Any help would be appreciated.

Code:

// MATRIX.cpp
#include "TEMP.h"

And this may come in handy.

Rename MATRIX.cpp to MATRIX.hpp to avoid creating an unnecessary object file. That won't solve your problems though.

One thing that's wrong in your code is that you use Matrix as a type. It's not. Matrix<T> is a type. That may fix some of your errors.

I've never heard of a syntax error being a linker problem.