CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++namespacesstatic-members
GuLearn
GuLearn

Reputation: 1864

Is a class with only static methods preferable to a namespace?

I was inspired by the comments under this question.

I didn't see any reason why a class with only static functions would be a better design than a namespace (with just functions). Any list of pros and cons of these two approaches are welcomed. It would be great with some practical examples!

Upvotes: 7

Views: 4291

Answers (2)

milleniumbug
milleniumbug

Reputation: 15804

Classes with static methods

  • You can have class inside another class, you can't have namespace inside class (because it probably does not make any sense).
  • They work with very ancient compilers.

Namespaces

- you can create namespace aliases

namespace io = boost::iostreams; Well, you can typedef classes, so this is moot point.

  • you can import symbols to another namespaces.

    namespace mystuff { using namespace boost; }

  • you can import selected symbols.

    using std::string;

  • they can span over several files (very important advantage)

  • inline namespaces (C++11)

Bottom line: namespaces are way to go in C++.

Upvotes: 3

R. Martinho Fernandes
R. Martinho Fernandes

Reputation: 234374

One non-stylistic difference is that you can use a class as a template parameter, but you cannot use a namespace. This is sometimes used for policy classes, like std::char_traits.

Outside of that use case, I would stick to a namespace with regular functions.

Upvotes: 11

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