What is a “static” function?

Question

The question was about plain c functions, not c++ static methods, as clarified in comments.

Ok, I understand what a static variable is, but what is a static function?

And why is it that if I declare a function, let's say void print_matrix, in let's say a.c (WITHOUT a.h) and include "a.c" - I get "print_matrix@@....) already defined in a.obj", BUT if I declare it as static void print_matrix then it compiles?

UPDATE Just to clear things up - I know that including .c is bad, as many of you pointed out. I just do it to temporarily clear space in main.c until I have a better idea of how to group all those functions into proper .h and .c files. Just a temporary, quick solution.

Answer 1

The answer to static function depends on the language:

1) In languages without OOPS like C, it means that the function is accessible only within the file where its defined.

2)In languages with OOPS like C++ , it means that the function can be called directly on the class without creating an instance of it.

Answer 2

Minor nit: static functions are visible to a translation unit, which for most practical cases is the file the function is defined in. The error you are getting is commonly referred to as violation of the One Definition Rule.

The standard probably says something like:

"Every program shall contain exactly one definition of every noninline function or object that is used in that program; no diagnostic required."

That is the C way of looking at static functions. This is deprecated in C++ however.

In C++, additionally, you can declare member functions static. These are mostly metafunctions i.e. they do not describe/modify a particular object's behavior/state but act on the whole class itself. Also, this means that you do not need to create an object to call a static member function. Further, this also means, you only get access to static member variables from within such a function.

I'd add to Parrot's example the Singleton pattern which is based on this sort of a static member function to get/use a single object throughout the lifetime of a program.

Answer 3

The following is about plain C functions - in a C++ class the modifier 'static' has another meaning.

If you have just one file, this modifier makes absolutely no difference. The difference comes in bigger projects with multiple files:

In C, every "module" (a combination of sample.c and sample.h) is compiled independently and afterwards every of those compiled object files (sample.o) are linked together to an executable file by the linker.

Let's say you have several files that you include in your main file and two of them have a function that is only used internally for convenience called add(int a, b) - the compiler would easily create object files for those two modules, but the linker will throw an error, because it finds two functions with the same name and it does not know which one it should use (even if there's nothing to link, because they aren't used somewhere else but in it's own file).

This is why you make this function, which is only used internal, a static function. In this case the compiler does not create the typical "you can link this thing"-flag for the linker, so that the linker does not see this function and will not generate an error.

Answer 4

A static function is one that can be called on the class itself, as opposed to an instance of the class.

For example a non-static would be:

Person* tom = new Person();
tom->setName("Tom");

This method works on an instance of the class, not the class itself. However you can have a static method that can work without having an instance. This is sometimes used in the Factory pattern:

Person* tom = Person::createNewPerson();