Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!microsoft!jimad
From: jimad@microsoft.UUCP (Jim ADCOCK)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: Static member definition vs. declaration?
Message-ID: <72218@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 7 May 91 23:52:12 GMT
References: <1991Apr19.133728.5300@clear.com> <1991Apr30.195846.16760@ccad.uiowa.edu>
Reply-To: jimad@microsoft.UUCP (Jim ADCOCK)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 17

|We have a debate in our group.  When you declare a static
|member, such as:
|
|   class X {static int myVar;};
|
|Do you need to make a definition elsewhere,
|
|   int X::myVar;
|

In C++ static members are only allowed for global classes.  The mention of such
inside of the class is only a declaration, the actual definition must
occur at file scope.

Some C++ compilers allow declaration without such explicit definition.
This is a *compiler* anachronism as listed in section 18.3 of ARM, not part
of the C++ *language* as defined today.