[c++] Does static constexpr variable inside a function make sense?

In addition to given answer, it's worth noting that compiler is not required to initialize constexpr variable at compile time, knowing that the difference between constexpr and static constexpr is that to use static constexpr you ensure the variable is initialized only once.

Following code demonstrates how constexpr variable is initialized multiple times (with same value though), while static constexpr is surely initialized only once.

In addition the code compares the advantage of constexpr against const in combination with static.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <cassert>
#include <sstream>

const short const_short = 0;
constexpr short constexpr_short = 0;

// print only last 3 address value numbers
const short addr_offset = 3;

// This function will print name, value and address for given parameter
void print_properties(std::string ref_name, const short* param, short offset)
{
    // determine initial size of strings
    std::string title = "value \\ address of ";
    const size_t ref_size = ref_name.size();
    const size_t title_size = title.size();
    assert(title_size > ref_size);

    // create title (resize)
    title.append(ref_name);
    title.append(" is ");
    title.append(title_size - ref_size, ' ');

    // extract last 'offset' values from address
    std::stringstream addr;
    addr << param;
    const std::string addr_str = addr.str();
    const size_t addr_size = addr_str.size();
    assert(addr_size - offset > 0);

    // print title / ref value / address at offset
    std::cout << title << *param << " " << addr_str.substr(addr_size - offset) << std::endl;
}

// here we test initialization of const variable (runtime)
void const_value(const short counter)
{
    static short temp = const_short;
    const short const_var = ++temp;
    print_properties("const", &const_var, addr_offset);

    if (counter)
        const_value(counter - 1);
}

// here we test initialization of static variable (runtime)
void static_value(const short counter)
{
    static short temp = const_short;
    static short static_var = ++temp;
    print_properties("static", &static_var, addr_offset);

    if (counter)
        static_value(counter - 1);
}

// here we test initialization of static const variable (runtime)
void static_const_value(const short counter)
{
    static short temp = const_short;
    static const short static_var = ++temp;
    print_properties("static const", &static_var, addr_offset);

    if (counter)
        static_const_value(counter - 1);
}

// here we test initialization of constexpr variable (compile time)
void constexpr_value(const short counter)
{
    constexpr short constexpr_var = constexpr_short;
    print_properties("constexpr", &constexpr_var, addr_offset);

    if (counter)
        constexpr_value(counter - 1);
}

// here we test initialization of static constexpr variable (compile time)
void static_constexpr_value(const short counter)
{
    static constexpr short static_constexpr_var = constexpr_short;
    print_properties("static constexpr", &static_constexpr_var, addr_offset);

    if (counter)
        static_constexpr_value(counter - 1);
}

// final test call this method from main()
void test_static_const()
{
    constexpr short counter = 2;

    const_value(counter);
    std::cout << std::endl;

    static_value(counter);
    std::cout << std::endl;

    static_const_value(counter);
    std::cout << std::endl;

    constexpr_value(counter);
    std::cout << std::endl;

    static_constexpr_value(counter);
    std::cout << std::endl;
}

Possible program output:

value \ address of const is               1 564
value \ address of const is               2 3D4
value \ address of const is               3 244

value \ address of static is              1 C58
value \ address of static is              1 C58
value \ address of static is              1 C58

value \ address of static const is        1 C64
value \ address of static const is        1 C64
value \ address of static const is        1 C64

value \ address of constexpr is           0 564
value \ address of constexpr is           0 3D4
value \ address of constexpr is           0 244

value \ address of static constexpr is    0 EA0
value \ address of static constexpr is    0 EA0
value \ address of static constexpr is    0 EA0

As you can see yourself constexpr is initilized multiple times (address is not the same) while static keyword ensures that initialization is performed only once.

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