STANDARD FUNCTION CALL:
Caller ──[Push Args]──> [Jump to Function] ──[Exec Body]──> [Pop Stack & Ret] ──> Caller
INLINED CODE (ZERO CALL OVERHEAD):
Caller ──[Direct Instruction Substitution in Caller Body] ──> Continues Executionconstexpr functions are implicitly inline.#include <iostream>
// Inline function definition in header
inline int maximum(int a, int b) {
return (a > b) ? a : b;
}
class MathHelper {
public:
// Implicitly inline because it is defined inside class declaration
int square(int x) const {
return x * x;
}
};
int main() {
int maxVal = maximum(42, 99);
MathHelper helper;
int sq = helper.square(8);
std::cout << "Maximum: " << maxVal << "
";
std::cout << "Square: " << sq << "
";
return 0;
}inline for small, frequently called 1-3 line utility functions.inline.