Question

In the following code snippet, the Color enum is declared within the Car class in order to limit the scope of the enum and to try not to “pollute” the global namespace.

class Car
{
public:

   enum Color
   {
      RED,
      BLUE,
      WHITE
   };

   void SetColor( Car::Color color )
   {
      _color = color;
   }

   Car::Color GetColor() const
   {
      return _color;
   }

private:

   Car::Color _color;

};

(1) Is this a good way to limit the scope of the Color enum? Or, should I declare it outside of the Car class, but possibly within its own namespace or struct? I just came across this article today, which advocates the latter and discusses some nice points about enums: http://gamesfromwithin.com/stupid-c-tricks-2-better-enums.

(2) In this example, when working within the class, is it best to code the enum as Car::Color, or would just Color suffice? (I assume the former is better, just in case there is another Color enum declared in the global namespace. That way, at least, we are explicit about the enum to we are referring.)

Answer 1

1. If Color is something that is specific to just Cars then that is the way you would limit its scope. If you are going to have another Color enum that other classes use then you might as well make it global (or at least outside Car).

2. It makes no difference. If there is a global one then the local one is still used anyway as it is closer to the current scope. Note that if you define those function outside of the class definition then you’ll need to explicitly specify Car::Color in the function’s interface.