What is the difference between a static variable in C++ vs. C#?

Question

Do static variables have the same or similar functionality in C# as they do in C++?

Edit:

With C++ you can use static variables in many different contexts - such as: 1) Global variables, 2) Local function variables, 3) Class members - Would similar usages in C# behave similar to that of C++?

Answer 1

Static has multiple meanings in C++.

Static variables in C# basically only have a single meaning: variables scoped to a type. In C#, static on a type is used to denote a type-scoped variable. Static on a method is a type-scoped method. Static can also be used on a class to denote that the entire class is comprised only of static methods, properties, and fields.

There is no equivelent to static variables within a function scope, or non-class scoped static values.

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Edit:

In reponse to your edit, C# basically only uses static for class members. Globals and local static function variables are not supported in C#. In addition, as I mentioned above, you can flag an entire class "static", which basically just makes the compiler check that there are no non-static members in the class.

Answer 2

From MSDN: The static keyword: In C++, static can be used both to declare class-level entities and to declare types that are specific to a module. In C#, static is only used to declare class-level entities.

Answer 3

A static variable in C# behaves like a static member variable in c++. That is out of the multiple meanings of the 'static' keyword in c++ only one of Them exists in the context of C#. E.g. you can't limit the scope to a file with static (which is strictly a C feature) in C#