How to initialize private static members in C++?

Question

What is the best way to initialize a private, static data member in C++? I tried this in my header file, but it gives me weird linker errors:

class foo
{
           


        

Answer 1

You can also include the assignment in the header file if you use header guards. I have used this technique for a C++ library I have created. Another way to achieve the same result is to use static methods. For example...

class Foo
   {
   public:
     int GetMyStatic() const
     {
       return *MyStatic();
     }

   private:
     static int* MyStatic()
     {
       static int mStatic = 0;
       return &mStatic;
     }
   }

The above code has the "bonus" of not requiring a CPP/source file. Again, a method I use for my C++ libraries.