C2011 'Node':'class' type redefinition - c++

Question

I am implementing bptree using c++. I am am stuck in the initial step of node creation. Keep getting "C2011 'Node':'class' type redefinition" error. I found some suggestions online to remove class key word from cpp file. But when I remove class keyword I get lots of other errors. here is my code for Node.cpp:
#include "Node.h"
#include <cstdio>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <map>
using namespace std;
class Node {
bool leaf;
Node** kids;
map<int, string> value;
int keyCount;//number of current keys in the node
//constructor;
Node::Node(int order) {
this->value = {};
this->kids = new Node *[order + 1];
this->leaf = true;
this->keyCount = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < (order + 1); i++) {
this->kids[i] = NULL;
}
}
};
and Node.h file is as following:
#pragma once
#ifndef NODE_HEADER
#define NODE_HEADER
class Node {
public:
Node(int order) {};
};
#endif
How can I fix this?

Answer 1

Problem
In C++, headers are simply pasted into the body when you #include. So now the compiler sees:
class Node {
public:
Node(int order) {};
};
// stuff from system headers omitted for brevity
using namespace std;
class Node {
bool leaf;
//...
};
There are two problems here:
compiler sees class Node twice with different bodies.
Node::Node is defined twice (first time empty {}).
Solution
The header should include class declaration:
#include <map>
using namespace std;
class Node {
bool leaf;
Node** kids;
map<int, string> value;
int keyCount;//number of current keys in the node
//constructor;
Node(int order);
};
Note that the constructor has no body here. It's just a declaration. Because it uses map you need to include <map> and add using namespace before the declaration.
After that don't put class Node again in the .cpp or .cc file. Only put the method implementations at the top level:
Node::Node(int order) {
// ...
}