Question

Say I have the following code:

struct date {
    int day;
    int month;
    int year;
};

class mydateclass {
    public: 
        int day;
        int month;
        int year;
};

mydateclass date;

date.day;

Which date variable is being referred to? The date instance named mydateclass, or the date struct?

Answer 1

The struct declaration is called “date”. There is no object date created before mydateclass date;. Therefore, the “call” is not ambigeous.

If you want to create an object in that fashion it would be:

struct datestruct {
    int day;
    int month;
    int year;
} date;

If you would do that, your compiler should complain at mydateclass date;, as an object of that name already exists.

Note that if you want to deal with the member (e.g. static member) of a class/struct w/o having an object at hands, you need :: instead of . Such as:

struct date {
    static int day;
};

date::day;