Re: Random questions

[John W. Eaton]

On 20-Dec-2012, Júlio Hoffimann wrote:

|     Could you give a specific example?
| 
| static std::istringstream&
| single_num (std::istringstream& is, double& num) { //... }
| 
| This `num' argument is supposed to be returned by the function.

There are two things that this function returns, the stream and the
number.  C++ functions can only return one value.  It makes more sense
to return the stream directly, so the other is returned by reference
in the argument list.

|     What do you mean by "free function"?
| 
| A function that is declared outside any C++ class/struct/enum type.

They are static because they are only needed to help implement other
functions in the file, so there is no need to have access to them
outside the scope of the single file where they are defined.

jwe