Question

In a C++ class is there any overhead in having static function instead of a member functions.

class CExample
{
    public: 
        int foo( int a, int b) {
            return a + b ; 
        }
        static int bar( int a, int b) {
            return a + b ; 
        } 
};

My questions are;

• In this example is foo() or bar() more effecent?.
• Why would I not want to make foo() in to a static function as it does not alter any member variables?

Answer 1

In this example is foo() or bar() more efficent?

No. Both calls are resolved statically. There may be some overhead in passing the this pointer to a non-static function, but in this case both will likely be inlined.

Why would I not want to make foo() in to a static function as it does not alter any member variables?

You wouldn’t, it’s actually good practice to make all methods not bound to an instance static.