If I am not mistaken if I were to declare a global char array, its elements would be initialized to \0’s. The same if I were to declare a static global or a static local. But what about a static field?
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If I am not mistaken if I were to declare a global char array, its elements would be initialized to \0’s. The same if I were to declare a static global or a static local. But what about a static field?
Yes. In C++ terminology, a field is called a “data member”.
Paragraph 9.4.2.7 of the C++03 standard states “Static data members are initialized and destroyed exactly like non-local objects.”.
Section 3.7.1 “Static storage duration” states “All objects which neither have dynamic storage duration nor are local have static storage duration.”
Section 3.6.2 “Initialization of non-local objects” states “Objects with static storage duration shall be zero-initialized before any other initialization takes place.”
So, if you don’t explicitly initialize your data member to something else, it keeps its zero-initialized value.