Why Can\'t You Overload Static and Non-Static Functions in C ?

Overloading Static Functions with Non-Static Functions in C

In C , overloading static and non-static functions with the same name is not permitted. This is explicitly stated in the C standard, which prohibits overloading functions that differ only in return type or have the same name and parameter types if one of them is static.

Consider the following class:

<code class="cpp">class Foo {
    string bla;
    Foo() { bla = "nonstatic"; }

    void print() { cout << bla << endl; }
    static void print() { cout << "static" << endl; }
};</code>

While this class definition may seem plausible, it is invalid according to the C standard. Overloading static and non-static functions is prohibited because it would lead to ambiguity, as static functions can also be called using the object-member access (.) syntax.

For example, in the following code snippet:

<code class="cpp">Foo f;
f.print();</code>

It is unclear whether the static print function or the non-static print function should be called.

Furthermore, C does not provide a way to determine whether a function is being called statically or not, as in PHP. The this keyword, which points to the object for which the function is invoked, will always be non-null.

In Summary

Overloading static and non-static functions with the same name is not allowed in C . Additionally, there is no mechanism to differentiate between static and non-static function calls within a function body.

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