Calling static function on class in C++

Question

I am writing a lot of java now, so I am getting confused with the java static methods and c++ static functions.

in java, you can call a static methods from a class, and I frequently use/see it, for exmaple:

public class A{
    public void static b(){
        System.out.println("hello");
    }
}

You can do, A.b(); Can you do that in C++? If so, is it not so popular as compared to doing so in java?

See [Help with C++ static method](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1208853/help-with-c-static-method) — Joe, Apr 05 '13 at 13:38
In C++, you would write `A::b();` which does the same thing. — Peter Lawrey, Apr 05 '13 at 13:38
@Jason before posting a question some effort should be made. — Joe, Apr 05 '13 at 13:39
+1 for using correct terminology: java static methods vs. C++ static functions. — Pete Becker, Apr 05 '13 at 14:55

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 05 '13 at 13:38

5

You can do that, in C++ using the :: scope operator:

A::b();

And as pointed out, if you are having an instance a of your class A in the current scope you can also call a.b(). Calling a static method on an instance is usually confusing though, so you might want to avoid it.

answered Apr 05 '13 at 13:38

Shoe

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If you have an instance `a` of type `A`, you can also use `a.b()`. – Potatoswatter Apr 05 '13 at 13:38

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 05 '13 at 13:40

You can use A::B()

you can also use a.B() if a is an instance of A. However that is just confusing for someone who reads the code. So just stick to A::B() for static methods to clearly show what you meant with it.

Calling static function on class in C++

2 Answers2