Exposing global data

[1nsp1r3d]

Hi all, I want to expose some global strings/ints so I wondered should I be using public const int i = 5; or public static int i = 5;? Thanks. Regards, gamehack

[Christian Graus]

It depends. Will this data be used within a class instance ? If so, no need to make it static. Are static and const mutually exclusive ? I don't think so. I think it should be const no matter what. Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++

[1nsp1r3d]

Thanks :)

[Joe Woodbury]

Be aware that "const" is resolved like at compile time like a C/C++ define. This means that if you change the value, other assemblies will still have the original value. "const" is fabulous for internal data, but lousy otherwise. Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke

[Guffa]

A constant can not be declared as static. All constants are static. A constant is not a variable as such but rather a compiler directive. Unless the constant is an object (e.g. a string), it's never stored as data. If you declare a constant: const int foo = 42; This line: bar = foo; will produce exactly the same code as: bar = 42; --- b { font-weight: normal; }