Why isn't std::array::size static?

Question

The size of std::array is known at compile time, but the size member function isn\'t static. Is there any reason for that? It\'s slightly inconvenient not to be

Answer 1

Note that the Microsoft Visual C++ doesn't currently support constexpr (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh567368.aspx), so the following valid code won't work:

    array dog;
    array cat;

The following class provides a compile time static variable:

/**
* hack around MSVC's 2012 lack of size for const expr
*/
template 
struct vcarray : public std::array {
    static const size_t ArraySize= N;
};

which can be used as:

vcarray cat;
vcarray dog;