Whats the difference between Methods and Members in C++?

Question

This is a beginner question. I'm pretty sure many people had this doubt but I still didn't find something to clearfy my mind, maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction or conception. The thing is, I can work with both codes:

    sf::Clock clock;
    clock.getElapsedTime();

    sf::Clock getElapsedTime();

Both are accepted through the IDE but I can't really understand the difference. As I already programm other languages I do know that clock.getElapsedTime(); will return the time during the app open, but what does sf::Clock getElapsedTime(); do exactly?

thanks in advance

This calls for a [book](http://stackoverflow.com/q/388242/1168156) — LihO, Aug 28 '13 at 14:05
You're mixing idioms here. If you do OO, objects have "methods" and "attributes". In C++, classes have "members" that are either "member functions" or "member data". — Pete Becker, Aug 28 '13 at 14:06

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 28 '13 at 14:57

5

First calls a member function getElapsedTime through object named clock while,
the second just declares a non-member (free) function by name getElapsedTime which returns a object of type sf::Clock and takes no arguments.

Good Read:
What is a function declaration?

edited Aug 28 '13 at 14:57

MSalters

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answered Aug 28 '13 at 13:56

Alok Save

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score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 28 '13 at 13:57

2

"what does sf::Clock getElapsedTime(); do exactly?"

It declares the function named getElapsedTime that takes no arguments and returns the value (an object) of type sf::Clock.

answered Aug 28 '13 at 13:57

LihO

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 28 '13 at 13:57

1

     sf::Clock getElapsedTime();

declares a function getElapsedTime() which returns a sf::Clock object. You need (or somebody else) to define this function somewhere else though.

answered Aug 28 '13 at 13:57

CS Pei

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Whats the difference between Methods and Members in C++?

3 Answers3