C++ namespaces with private members

In C++ you can build beautiful namespaces with private members (variables and functions). This is a good choice when you want to hide the inner workings of a set of utility functions from the final user. You can accomplish that thanks to the concept of anonymous namespaces. An anonymous namespace is a namespace without name, like the following one:

namespace
{
    // your stuff here
}

The beauty of anonymous namespaces is that they are available only in their translation unit, that is the .cpp file they are located.

For example, say I'm working on a small namespace called thing. This is the header file:

// thing.hpp

namespace thing
{
    int getX();
    int getSum();
}

And this is the implementation file:

// thing.cpp

namespace thing
{
    namespace   // anonymous namespace
    {
        int x = 1;
        int y = 2;

        int sum(int a, int b)
        {
            return a + b;
        }
    }

    int getX() 
    {
        return x;
    }

    int getSum()
    {
        return sum(x, y);
    }
};

Notice how I've wrapped the private members in the anonymous namespace. Now only thing can access x, y and sum(). If you try to touch those variables from the outside, an error occurs. Let's try:

#include <cstdio>
#include "thing.hpp"

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    printf("%d\n", thing::getX());     // OK
    printf("%d\n", thing::getSum());   // OK
    printf("%d\n", thing::sum(1, 2));  // error: ‘sum‘ is not a member of ‘thing’    
    printf("%d\n", thing::y);          // error: ‘y‘ is not a member of ‘thing’    
}

Sources

Stackoverflow - Why are unnamed namespaces used and what are their benefits? (link)
Wikipedia - Translation unit (link)