inline-functions

See title: what does it mean for a C++ function to be inline? The function is placed in the code, rather than being called, similar to using macros (conceptually) This can improve speed (no function call), but causes code bloat (if the function is used 100 times, you now have 100 copies) You should note this does not force the compiler to make the function inline, and it will ignore you if it thinks its a bad idea. Similarly the compiler may decided to make normal functions inline for you. This also allows you to place the entire function in a header file, rather than implementing it in a cpp

I'm a C/C++ developer, and here are a couple of questions that always baffled me. Is there a big difference between "regular" code and inline code? Which is the main difference? Is inline code simply a "form" of macros? What kind of tradeoff must be done when choosing to inline your code? Thanks Is there a big difference between "regular" code and inline code? Yes and no. No, because an inline function or method has exactly the same characteristics as a regular one, most important one being that they are both type safe. And yes, because the assembly code generated by the compiler will be

What's the difference between a static inline , extern inline and a normal inline function? I've seen some vague explanations about this. As far as I've understood, static inline is not just an inline function that is meant to only be referred to within a certain file as the static keyword usually means. The same goes for extern inline too I guess, it's not the same explanation as with extern variables. Any answers would be greatly appreciated! A function definition with static inline defines an inline function with internal linkage. Such function works "as expected" from the "usual"

I have a C++ program that I compile with mingw (gcc for Windows). Using the TDM release of mingw which includes gcc 4.4.1. The executable links to two static library (.a) files: On of them is a third-party library written in C; the other is a C++ library, written by me, that uses the C library provides my own C++ API on top. An (in my view, excessive) portion of the C library's functionality is implemented in inline functions. You can't avoid including the inline functions when you use the C library's API, but when I try to link it all together, I'm getting link errors saying there is a

While it would be very convenient to use inline functions at some situations, Are there any drawbacks with inline functions? Conclusion : Apparently, There is nothing wrong with using inline functions. But it is worth noting the following points! Overuse of inlining can actually make programs slower. Depending on a function's size, inlining it can cause the code size to increase or decrease. Inlining a very small accessor function will usually decrease code size while inlining a very large function can dramatically increase code size. On modern processors smaller code usually runs faster due

I have a function that is declared and defined in a header file. This is a problem all by itself. When that function is not inlined, every translation unit that uses that header gets a copy of the function, and when they are linked together there are duplicated. I "fixed" that by making the function inline, but I'm afraid that this is a fragile solution because as far as I know, the compiler doesn't guarantee inlining, even when you specify the "inline" keyword. If this is not true, please correct me. Anyways, the real question is, what happens to static variables inside this function? How