------- Comment #6 from redi at gcc dot gnu dot org 2010-07-27 23:54 ------- (In reply to comment #5) > Thanks for all the great comments and insight. > > I'm still confused as to why when the BUFF_SIZE was defined as: > static const signed int BUFF_SIZE = 20; > it caused the error, but when it was defined as: > static const unsigned int BUFF_SIZE = 20; > it did not.
Because you can't bind const int& to an unsigned int, so a temporary is created and the reference bound to that. When the variable has type int the reference can bind to it directly. > There were 2 things that solved the problem I was seeing: > > 1. Adding a const signed int BUFF_SIZE; line to the .cpp file. > > I've seen lots of code where we define constants ala, static const int > BUFF_SIZE=20; in the .hpp file without any const int myclass::BUFF_SIZE; in > the > .cpp files. Is that wrong to exclude them, should we be including them in the > .cpp file? Yes, if the variable is "used" in the program, see the reference from the standard that Jakub posted days ago in comment 1 > 2. Declaring the type during the call, ala, funky((int)myclass::BUFF_SIZE); You might have misunderstood that as well, there's no "declaring the type" there, it's creating a temporary which the reference binds to. > I'm not sure which is the better solution. Again, please follow up somewhere else, GCC's bugzilla is not the right place to learn the rules of C++. -- http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=45082
