1: //Listing 14.2 static data members 2: 3: #include <iostream.h> 4: 5: class Cat 6: { 7: public: 8: ...
1: //Listing 14.2 static data members
2:
3: #include <iostream.h>
4:
5: class Cat
6: {
7: public:
8: Cat(int age):itsAge(age){HowManyCats++; }
9: virtual ~Cat() { HowManyCats--; }
10: virtual int GetAge() { return itsAge; }
11: virtual void SetAge(int age) { itsAge = age; }
12: static int HowManyCats;
13:
14: private:
15: int itsAge;
16:
17: };
18:
19: int Cat::HowManyCats = 0;
20:
21: void TelepathicFunction();
22:
23: int main()
24: {
25: const int MaxCats = 5; int i;
26: Cat *CatHouse[MaxCats];
27: for (i = 0; i<MaxCats; i++)
28: {
29: CatHouse[i] = new Cat(i);
30: TelepathicFunction();
31: }
32:
33: for ( i = 0; i<MaxCats; i++)
34: {
35: delete CatHouse[i];
36: TelepathicFunction();
37: }
38: return 0;
39: }
40:
41: void TelepathicFunction()
42: {
43: cout << "There are ";
44: cout << Cat::HowManyCats << " cats alive!\n";
45: }
Output: There are 1 cats alive!
There are 2 cats alive!
There are 3 cats alive!
There are 4 cats alive!
There are 5 cats alive!
There are 4 cats alive!
There are 3 cats alive!
There are 2 cats alive!
There are 1 cats alive!
There are 0 cats alive!
Analysis: Listing 14.2 is much like Listing 14.1 except for the addition of a new function, TelepathicFunction(). This function does not create a Cat object, nor does it take a Cat object as a parameter, yet it can access the HowManyCats member variable. Again, it is worth reemphasizing that this member variable is not in any particular object; it is in the class as a whole, and, if public, can be accessed by any function in the program.
The alternative to making this member variable public is to make it private. If you do, you can access it through a member function, but then you must have an object of that class available. Listing 14.3 shows this approach.
