Why would I use a member function when I can pass a static function a reference to an object?
For example:
#include <iostream> class Widget{ private: int foo; public: Widget(){ foo = 0; } static void increment( Widget &w ){ w.foo++; std::cout << w.foo << std::endl; } }; class Gadget{ private: int foo; public: Gadget(){ foo = 0; } void increment(){ foo++; std::cout << foo << std::endl; } }; int main(int argc, const char * argv[]){ Widget *w = new Widget(); Widget::increment( *w ); Gadget *g = new Gadget(); g->increment(); return 0; } Is this more than a stylistic thing? My understanding is that member functions are created per object instance, while static functions are not -- and since you can make static functions operate on a per instance basis like in the above example, shouldn't it slightly more efficient to create static functions instead of member functions?
