CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++constantsstatic-methods
Alexander
Alexander

Reputation: 779

Why can't we use const members in static member functions?

class TConst
{
    const int i;
    int& ref;
    public:
    TConst(int n):i(n),ref(n){}
    static void p1(){prn(i);}//error here
};

My compiler generates an error when I try to use a const class member in a static member-function.

Why is it not allowed?

Upvotes: 10

Views: 2037

Answers (3)

Igor
Igor

Reputation: 27248

It wouldn't work even if it wasn't const:

error: a nonstatic member reference must be relative to a specific object

Static functions can not access non-static member variables. This is because non-static member variables must belong to a class object, and static member functions have no class object to work with.

Upvotes: 7

Karlson
Karlson

Reputation: 3048

The const member is initialized during the object construction. The static members are not dependent on the object creation and don't have access to this pointer hence they don't know where your const member variable resides.

Upvotes: 6

tenfour
tenfour

Reputation: 36896

const means different things. In this case, it means that i is immutable after it's been initialized. It doesn't mean it's a literal constant (like I believe you think it means). i can be different for different instances of TConst, so it's logical that static methods cannot use it.

Upvotes: 14

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