STATIC KEYWORD JAVA


Static Keyword In JAVA | Core Java Tutorial | Minigranth

Static Keyword : Introduction

  • There will be time when you want a class member to be common to all the object of the class, i.e. all the objects of the class will share that member.
  • Here static keyword comes into play.
  • To access any member of the class it is done by using object with (.) operator.
  • But static keyword before any class member makes it independent of the object.

Static Keyword : The Discussion

  • Static keyword can be applied to:
    • Variable
    • Method
    • Block
  • Let us discuss them one by one along with their respective syntax and examples.

    1. Static variable
      • A variable preceded with static keyword is called static variable. Static variable is common to all class objects.
      • Static variable is independent of the objects hence is accessed using class name rather then object name.

      Syntax

      class_name.static_variable;

      This image describes the functioning of static variables under static keyword in java.
      Static Variable
      • The above diagram show that static variable a is common to all objects of a class.

      This image describes the sample program for static variable under static keyword in java.
      Static Variable : Example

      This image describes the output of sample program for static variable under static keyword in java.
      Static Variable : Output
      • As we can see that value of static variable is common to all objects and it is not reinitialized again to "0" when accessed again.
       

    2. Static Methods
      • The most common example of static method we have seen till now is the main() method.
      • Static methods are those methods which are made static by preceding them with static keyword. Static methods access static data only.
      • Static methods are invoked using class name rather than object name.

      Syntax

      class_name.method_name();
       
      • There are some restrictions that are applied to static methods, such as :
        1. Static methods always access static data. They can’t access non-static data.
        2. This keyword cannot be used with static method.
        3. Super keyword cannot be used with static method.
      • Let us take an example of static method.

      This image describes the sample program for static method under static keyword in java.
      Static Method : Example

      This image describes the output of sample program for static method under static keyword in java.
      Static Method : Output
       

    3. Static Block
      • Static block is used to initialize static variables. Static block is always executed before main block.
      • Let us take an example of static block and see if it executes before main block.

      This image describes the sample program for static block under static keyword in java.
      Static Block : Example

      This image describes the output of sample program for static block under static keyword in java.
      Static Block : Output
      • We can see in the output that the static block is executed before main block and the static variable a is assigned value before main() starts executing.

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