Home » Tip Bank » C++

Language: C++
Expertise: Beginner

Feb 14, 2000

Question:
Is there a better way to scope constant values within a class other than by using "enum"?

class Foo {
public:
   enum {
     valueOne = 1,
     valueTwo = 2
   } EFooValues;
};

It would be much nicer to write...

class Foo {
public:
   const int valueOne = 1;
   const int valueTwo = 2;
   const char* stringOne = "hello";
};

Answer:
You can use a const static int instead of an unnamed enum. For example:

class Foo 
{
public:
  static const int valueOne = 1,
  static const int valueTwo = 2
  static const int EFooValues = 3;
};

Note, however, that some compilers (e.g. Visual C++) won't let you initialize a const static int member inside the class' body because this feature was added relatively recently to C++ and some vendors haven't implemented it yet.