• Textbook: CS 235 Textbook / CS 250 Textbook
• Assignments:
  • 🧑‍🔬 Unit 03 Lab - CS 200 review - Functions and classes (U03.LAB)
  • 🏋️ Exercise - Debugging functions and classes (U03.EXE)

In the context of classes and their variables, the variables we've been working with so far are member variables. When a new object is instantiated, each object has its own version of these variables:

Cat cat1;
Cat cat2;

cat1.name = "Kabe";
cat2.name = "Luna";

cat1 and cat2 both have variables called name, but cat1's name is different from cat2's name - in memory address, and in value.

We can also declare static functions and variables within a class. These static items don't belong to an instance of an object - they belong to the class.

When a class has a function declared as static, then that function can be called directly via the class itself, though it can also be called via an object.

class Example
{
  public:
  static void Display();
};

void Example::Display()
{
  cout << "HI" << endl;
}

// Calling via the class
Example::Display();

// Calling via an object
Example e;
e.Display();

Static variables are variables that belong to the entire class. What this means is that each instance of the object share the same variable - it's the same memory address, the same value. If the value is changed by one instance, that change is reflected across all instances.

class Cat
{
  public:
  Cat( string name );
  void Display();
  
  private:
  string m_name;
  static int s_catCount;
};

Cat::Cat( string name )
{
  m_name = name;
  s_catCount++;
}

Each time a new Cat is instantiated the s_catCount goes up by 1.

When creating a static variable, in the class declaration these variables need to be marked with the static keyword:

static int s_counter;

In the C++ file, the static variable needs to be defined, outside of any functions, like this:

int Kitten::s_counter = 0;

Every time a constructor is run, it adds to the count. Every time a destructor is run, it subtracts from the count.

Example code: (repository)

• Instance counter
• Manager class

Videos:

• 🎥 Playlist - Archived videos about static members