How to declare a fixed size for an array in C++

Question

Quick and stupid question. How do I declare the size for an array if I'm not allowed to use global variables?

Suppose I have the file Album.h:

class Album {
private:
    Song songs[MAX_SONGS];

    //...

}

where do I put MAX_SONGS = 30? const int MAX_SONGS = 30 is considered a variable right? Please notice that the size should be known to the entire program.

Answer 1

class Album {
private:
    static const int MAX_SONGS = 100;
    Song songs[MAX_SONGS];

    //...
};

Note that inline initialization of static const variables is only allowed for those whose type is integral. Also note that regardless of initialization, this is still just a declaration and not the definition. You won't generally need the definition, although there are certain cases when you would.

As for the visibility, you can provide a static getter function that would return MAX_SONGS.

public:
static int GetMaxSongs() { return MAX_SONGS; }