Why use static_cast<int>(x) instead of (int)x?

I've heard that the static_cast function should be preferred to C-style or simple function-style casting. Is this true? Why?

The main reason is that classic C casts make no distinction between what we call static_cast<>(), reinterpret_cast<>(), const_cast<>(), and dynamic_cast<>(). These four things are completely different.

A static_cast<>() is usually safe. There is a valid conversion in the language, or an appropriate constructor that makes it possible. The only time it's a bit risky is when you cast down to an inherited class; you must make sure that the object is actually the descendant that you claim it is, by means external to the language (like a flag in the object). A dynamic_cast<>() is safe as long as the result is checked (pointer) or a possible exception is taken into account (reference).

A reinterpret_cast<>() (or a const_cast<>()) on the other hand is always dangerous. You tell the compiler: "trust me: I know this doesn't look like a foo (this looks as if it isn't mutable), but it is".

The first problem is that it's almost impossible to tell which one will occur in a C-style cast without looking at large and disperse pieces of code and knowing all the rules.

Let's assume these:

class CDerivedClass : public CMyBase {...};
class CMyOtherStuff {...} ;

CMyBase  *pSomething; // filled somewhere

Now, these two are compiled the same way:

CDerivedClass *pMyObject;
pMyObject = static_cast<CDerivedClass*>(pSomething); // Safe; as long as we checked

pMyObject = (CDerivedClass*)(pSomething); // Same as static_cast<>
                                     // Safe; as long as we checked
                                     // but harder to read

However, let's see this almost identical code:

CMyOtherStuff *pOther;
pOther = static_cast<CMyOtherStuff*>(pSomething); // Compiler error: Can't convert

pOther = (CMyOtherStuff*)(pSomething);            // No compiler error.
                                                  // Same as reinterpret_cast<>
                                                  // and it's wrong!!!

As you can see, there is no easy way to distinguish between the two situations without knowing a lot about all the classes involved.

The second problem is that the C-style casts are too hard to locate. In complex expressions it can be very hard to see C-style casts. It is virtually impossible to write an automated tool that needs to locate C-style casts (for example a search tool) without a full blown C++ compiler front-end. On the other hand, it's easy to search for "static_cast<" or "reinterpret_cast<".

pOther = reinterpret_cast<CMyOtherStuff*>(pSomething);
      // No compiler error.
      // but the presence of a reinterpret_cast<> is 
      // like a Siren with Red Flashing Lights in your code.
      // The mere typing of it should cause you to feel VERY uncomfortable.

That means that, not only are C-style casts more dangerous, but it's a lot harder to find them all to make sure that they are correct.

One pragmatic tip: you can search easily for the static_cast keyword in your source code if you plan to tidy up the project.

In short:

1. static_cast<>() gives you a compile time checking ability, C-Style cast doesn't.
2. static_cast<>() can be spotted easily anywhere inside a C++ source code; in contrast, C_Style cast is harder to spot.
3. Intentions are conveyed much better using C++ casts.

More Explanation:

The static cast performs conversions between compatible types. It is similar to the C-style cast, but is more restrictive. For example, the C-style cast would allow an integer pointer to point to a char.

char c = 10;       // 1 byte
int *p = (int*)&c; // 4 bytes

Since this results in a 4-byte pointer pointing to 1 byte of allocated memory, writing to this pointer will either cause a run-time error or will overwrite some adjacent memory.

*p = 5; // run-time error: stack corruption

In contrast to the C-style cast, the static cast will allow the compiler to check that the pointer and pointee data types are compatible, which allows the programmer to catch this incorrect pointer assignment during compilation.

int *q = static_cast<int*>(&c); // compile-time error

Read more on:
What is the difference between static_cast<> and C style casting
and
Regular cast vs. static_cast vs. dynamic_cast

The question is bigger than just using wither static_cast or C style casting because there are different things that happen when using C style casts. The C++ casting operators are intended to make these operations more explicit.

On the surface static_cast and C style casts appear to the same thing, for example when casting one value to another:

int i;
double d = (double)i;                  //C-style cast
double d2 = static_cast<double>( i );  //C++ cast

Both of these cast the integer value to a double. However when working with pointers things get more complicated. some examples:

class A {};
class B : public A {};

A* a = new B;
B* b = (B*)a;                                  //(1) what is this supposed to do?

char* c = (char*)new int( 5 );                 //(2) that weird?
char* c1 = static_cast<char*>( new int( 5 ) ); //(3) compile time error

In this example (1) maybe OK because the object pointed to by A is really an instance of B. But what if you don't know at that point in code what a actually points to? (2) maybe perfectly legal(you only want to look at one byte of the integer), but it could also be a mistake in which case an error would be nice, like (3). The C++ casting operators are intended to expose these issues in the code by providing compile-time or run-time errors when possible.

So, for strict "value casting" you can use static_cast. If you want run-time polymorphic casting of pointers use dynamic_cast. If you really want to forget about types, you can use reintrepret_cast. And to just throw const out the window there is const_cast.

They just make the code more explicit so that it looks like you know what you were doing.

static_cast means that you can't accidentally const_cast or reinterpret_cast, which is a good thing.