How to initialize private static members in C++?

The class declaration should be in the header file (Or in the source file if not shared).
File: foo.h

class foo
{
    private:
        static int i;
};

But the initialization should be in source file.
File: foo.cpp

int foo::i = 0;

If the initialization is in the header file then each file that includes the header file will have a definition of the static member. Thus during the link phase you will get linker errors as the code to initialize the variable will be defined in multiple source files. The initialisation of the static int i must be done outside of any function.

Note: Matt Curtis: points out that C++ allows the simplification of the above if the static member variable is of const integer type (bool, char, char8_t [since C++20], char16_t, char32_t, wchar_t, short, int, long, long long, or any implementation-defined extended integer types, including any signed, unsigned, and cv-qualified variants.). You can then declare and initialize the member variable directly inside the class declaration in the header file:

class foo
{
    private:
        static int const i = 42;
};

For a variable:

foo.h:

class foo
{
private:
    static int i;
};

foo.cpp:

int foo::i = 0;

This is because there can only be one instance of foo::i in your program. It's sort of the equivalent of extern int i in a header file and int i in a source file.

For a constant you can put the value straight in the class declaration:

class foo
{
private:
    static int i;
    const static int a = 42;
};

With a Microsoft compiler[1], static variables that are not int-like can also be defined in a header file, but outside of the class declaration, using the Microsoft specific __declspec(selectany).

class A
{
    static B b;
}

__declspec(selectany) A::b;

Note that I'm not saying this is good, I just say it can be done.

[1] These days, more compilers than MSC support __declspec(selectany) - at least gcc and clang. Maybe even more.

int foo::i = 0; 

Is the correct syntax for initializing the variable, but it must go in the source file (.cpp) rather than in the header.

Because it is a static variable the compiler needs to create only one copy of it. You have to have a line "int foo:i" some where in your code to tell the compiler where to put it otherwise you get a link error. If that is in a header you will get a copy in every file that includes the header, so get multiply defined symbol errors from the linker.

C++11 static constructor pattern that works for multiple objects

One idiom was proposed at: https://stackoverflow.com/a/27088552/895245 but here goes a cleaner version that does not require creating a new method per member.

main.cpp

#include <cassert>
#include <vector>

// Normally on the .hpp file.
class MyClass {
public:
    static std::vector<int> v, v2;
    static struct StaticConstructor {
        StaticConstructor() {
            v.push_back(1);
            v.push_back(2);
            v2.push_back(3);
            v2.push_back(4);
        }
    } _staticConstructor;
};

// Normally on the .cpp file.
std::vector<int> MyClass::v;
std::vector<int> MyClass::v2;
// Must come after every static member.
MyClass::StaticConstructor MyClass::_staticConstructor;

int main() {
    assert(MyClass::v[0] == 1);
    assert(MyClass::v[1] == 2);
    assert(MyClass::v2[0] == 3);
    assert(MyClass::v2[1] == 4);
}

GitHub upstream.

Compile and run:

g++ -ggdb3 -O0 -std=c++11 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic -o main.out main.cpp
./main.out

See also: static constructors in C++? I need to initialize private static objects

Tested on Ubuntu 19.04.

C++17 inline variable

Mentioned at: https://stackoverflow.com/a/45062055/895245 but here is a multifile runnable example to make it even clearer: How do inline variables work?

This awesome C++17 feature allow us to:

• conveniently use just a single memory address for each constant
• store it as a constexpr: How to declare constexpr extern?
• do it in a single line from one header

main.cpp

#include <cassert>

#include "notmain.hpp"

int main() {
    // Both files see the same memory address.
    assert(&notmain_i == notmain_func());
    assert(notmain_i == 42);
}

notmain.hpp

#ifndef NOTMAIN_HPP
#define NOTMAIN_HPP

inline constexpr int notmain_i = 42;

const int* notmain_func();

#endif

notmain.cpp

#include "notmain.hpp"

const int* notmain_func() {
    return &notmain_i;
}

Compile and run:

g++ -c -o notmain.o -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic notmain.cpp
g++ -c -o main.o -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic main.cpp
g++ -o main -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic main.o notmain.o
./main

GitHub upstream.

One "old-school" way to define constants is to replace them by a enum:

class foo
{
    private:
        enum {i = 0}; // default type = int
        enum: int64_t {HUGE = 1000000000000}; // may specify another type
};

This way doesn't require providing a definition, and avoids making the constant lvalue, which can save you some headaches, e.g. when you accidentally ODR-use it.

Here are all possibilities and errors in one simple example ...

#ifndef Foo_h
#define Foo_h

class Foo
{
  static const int a = 42; // OK
  static const int b {7};  // OK
  //static int x = 42; // ISO C++ forbids in-class initialization of non-const static member 'Foo::x'
  //static int y {7};  // ISO C++ forbids in-class initialization of non-const static member 'Foo::x'
  static int x;
  static int y;
  int m = 42;
  int n {7};
};

// Foo::x = 42;  // error: 'int Foo::x' is private
int Foo::x = 42; // OK in Foo.h if included in only one  *.cpp -> *.o file!
int Foo::y {7};  // OK

// int Foo::y {7};  // error: redefinition of 'int Foo::y'
   // ONLY if the compiler can see both declarations at the same time it, 
   // OTHERWISE you get a linker error

#endif // Foo_h

But better place this in Foo.cpp. This way you can separately compile each file and link them later, otherwise Foo:x will be present in multiple object files and cause a linker error. ...

// Foo::x = 42;  // error: 'int Foo::x' is private, bad if Foo::X is public!
int Foo::x = 42; // OK in Foo.h if included in only one  *.cpp -> *.o file!
int Foo::y {7};  // OK

I just wanted to mention something a little strange to me when I first encountered this.

I needed to initialize a private static data member in a template class.

in the .h or .hpp, it looks something like this to initialize a static data member of a template class:

template<typename T>
Type ClassName<T>::dataMemberName = initialValue;