Static Data Member Initialization in C++

Here we will see how to initialize the static member variables initialization in C++. We can put static members (Functions or Variables) in C++ classes. For the static variables, we have to initialize them after defining the class.

To initialize we have to use the class name then scope resolution operator, then the variable name. Now we can assign some value.

The following code will illustrate the of static member initializing technique.

Example

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class MyClass{
   private:
      static int st_var;
   public:
      MyClass() {
         st_var++; //increase the value of st_var when new object is created
      }
      static int getStaticVar() {
         return st_var;
      }
};
int MyClass::st_var = 0; //initializing the static int
main() {
   MyClass ob1, ob2, ob3; //three objects are created
   cout << "Number of objects: " << MyClass::getStaticVar();
}

Output

Number of objects: 3