static function

What is the role of a static member function ?

In case I don't know about static stuff, will declaring and using an ordinary member function offer the same result ?

class CLASS
{
public :

static void func();
};

and

class CLASS
{
public :

void func();
};

Would you mind show me significant differences between the use of both in terms of
1. linking,
2. storing,
3. compiling
4. functioning


Thank you

To put it short, the major advantage of a static member function is that you don't need an instance of your class (i.e. a concrete object) to call it on. However, this also brings along the major disadavantage: As you don't have an associated object you can't (directly) access any non-static class members from a static member function.

A static method is basically a function which is closely associated with the class (possibly even private to it), but which does not directly manipulate an object of the class type.