C++ newbie gets linking error

Question

Hi,
I am writing my first C++ programs (been a SQL/DB programmer for last 10 years) on Sun Solaris. Here is my source code:
#include <list>
#include <string>
#include <iostream.h>
using namespace std; // You must use this to include STL!
int main()
// Create list instances
list<int> list1; // Empty list
size_t n = 10;
double val = 3.14;
list<double> list2(n, val); // Create n copies of val
list<double> list3(list2); // Create a copy of list2
cout << "Size of list1 " << list1.size() << endl;
cout << "Size of list2 " << list2.size() << endl;
cout << "Size of list3 " << list3.size() << endl;
// We iterate over the elements of list 3 and print its elements
// Create list iterator
list<double>::const_iterator i;
// Print every character in the list
for (i = list2.begin(); i != list2.end(); ++i)
cout << *i << ",";
and getting the following linker error:
/SUNWspro/9.0/exec/SUNWspro/bin/CC -o test test.cpp
Undefined first referenced
symbol in file
std::bad_alloc::bad_alloc() test.o
void*operator new(unsigned,void*) test.o
ld: fatal: Symbol referencing errors. No output written to test
I have heard of Solaris C++ compilers having problem with the use of templates..... is this the problem here or am I just missing some arguments/libraries?
Thx in advance!

Answer 1

In the interest of keeping code examples short and simple, textbook authors do things in their code examples that are not suitable for real-world applications. Apart from "using namespace std", you find global variables and functions with short names, and no attention paid to error detection or recovery. (They also use more explanatory comments in the code than a real-world program should have.)
That's OK when you are illustrating particular language points. You want to highlight the point, and not have a lot of distractions. But in my view, not enough authors go on to explain good programming practice, and show realistic examples.
For the case in point, the Standard Library declares thousands of names. They are in namespace std to help avoid collisions with user-defined names. Once you put "using namespace std" into your code, you import all of those names into the global namespace, creating opportunities not only for compiler complaints due to name collisions, but for subtle errors involving binding symbols to the standard library that you expected to refer to your own definitions.
I never write "using namespace std" in real code. I sometimes use it when creating tiny test cases for bug reports. But as you saw in my earlier comments, the difference in the sample program between a dangerous programming practice and a much better programming practice was one line of code!