Why can't I initialize non-const static member or static array in a class? 

class A
{
    static const int a = 3;
    static int b = 3;
    static const int c[2] = { 1, 2 };
    static int d[2] = { 1, 2 };
};

int main()
{
    A a;

    return 0;
}

the compiler issues following errors:

g++ main.cpp
main.cpp:4:17: error: ISO C++ forbids in-class initialization of non-const static member ‘b’
main.cpp:5:26: error: a brace-enclosed initializer is not allowed here before ‘{’ token
main.cpp:5:33: error: invalid in-class initialization of static data member of non-integral type ‘const int [2]’
main.cpp:6:20: error: a brace-enclosed initializer is not allowed here before ‘{’ token
main.cpp:6:27: error: invalid in-class initialization of static data member of non-integral type ‘int [2]’

I have two questions:

  1. Why can't I initialize static data members in class?
  2. Why can't I initialize static arrays in class, even the const array?
c++ static constants
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