When Are Static C Class Members Initialized?

Initialization of Static C Class Members

This question revolves around the timing of initialization for static C class members. While a straightforward answer may not exist, certain safe assumptions can guide when such members can be accessed.

According to the C standard, objects with static storage duration (in this case, static class fields) are initialized in the order of their definitions within the same translation unit (typically a .cpp file). This means that static members defined later in the file will be initialized after those defined earlier.

Crucially, it is also guaranteed that static objects from a translation unit will be initialized before any use of any object or function from that unit. This implies that if we refrain from referencing static members within other static initialization code, potential concerns can be mitigated.

However, it's important to note that the C standard does not provide further guarantees beyond these two principles. Notably, the order of initialization for objects defined in different translation units is implementation-defined and varies across compilers and platforms.

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