Static Member Function C++

A static member function in a class is a function that belongs to the class, not an object.

1. can be accessed without using an object of the class (while a non-static member function cannot)
2. can be called by using an object of the class
3. can only access static data members
4. a static member function doesn’t have this pointer which points to the object of the class

#include <iostream> 
#include <string> 
using namespace std; 
 
class Hello 
{ 
public: 
private: 
    static string welcome; 
    string goodbye; 
 
public: 
    static void print() 
    { 
        cout << welcome << endl; //YES: will be printed out 
        cout << goodbye << endl; //NO: will NOT be printed out 
    } 
}; 
 
string Hello::welcome = "welcome here coder"; 
 
int main(){ 
    Hello::print();  //YES: okay to be called without using an object 
    Hello h; 
    h.print();  //YES: okay to be called by using the object 
    return 0; 
} 

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