static keyword in java

Java static keyword
static is a reserved word(or keyword) in java. It can be applied before a

• field(or instance member)
• method
• class
• unnamed block

Writing static keyword before any of the above makes it static.

static meaning in java
static in java means belonging to the class and not to the instance, or object. If a field, method or a block is made static, then it is shared by all the instances(or objects) of the class.
This also means that only one copy of the static member exists for all instances.

Remember that static members of a class exist independently before even any instance of the class is created.
Suppose there is a class which contains both static and non-static fields and methods.

public class StaticExample {

   // non-static field
   private String name;

   // non-static field
   private int age;

   // static field
   public static int counter;

   // instance method
   public String getName() {
      return name;
   }

   // instance method
   public void setName(String name) {
      this.name = name;
   }

   // static method
   public static void count() {
      counter++;
   }
   
   // Overridden toString method 
   public String toString() {
      return "[Name= "+name+", age= "+age+"]";
   }
}

If a couple of instances of the above class are created, then they will be represented in memory as
Note that all the instances share the static members and if one instance of a class modifies the value of a static variable, then it is visible across all the instances of that class.

As stated earlier, static members(variables and methods) are directly linked to the class and not to any instance, thus they can be accessed directly using the class name.

In other words, no instance of a class is required to access its static members.
Thus, in above example, static members can be accessed as

where StaticExample is the name of class.

Use of static keyword in java
static variables and methods are most commonly used when they should not have any relation to an instance of a class.

Let’s say a variable should hold some information that is common for all objects or a method that performs some task having no association with the class objects, then it is better to make them static.

Below scenarios will be ideal examples for the use of static variable and method in java.

1. Suppose a method should return the current system time or system IP address, it does not make any sense to bind it to an instance since these attributes will be common for all objects.
2. A variable that holds the number of objects of the class being created.
   In this case, you need a common variable that should be incremented when a new object is created.
   It can not be linked with any particular instance.
3. A method that simply prints a message to the console.
   It would be nice to make it common for all objects since its only task is to output data without any relation to any object.

Where as, suppose a variable should hold the name of a person.
Now each person is represented by a separate instance(or object) and hence would have a different name.
Thus, it should not be made a static field but a non-static or instance variable.
static example in java
Below is an example of using static and non-static variables and methods in java.
It will be using the StaticExample class defined above.

public class StaticDemo {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      // create object of class
      StaticExample objectOne = new StaticExample();
      objectOne.name = "ABC";
      objectOne.age = 23;
      // create second object of class
      StaticExample objectTwo = new StaticExample();
      objectTwo.name = "DEF";
      objectTwo.age = 45;
      // access static method
      StaticExample.count();
      // access and print static variable
      System.out.println(StaticExample.counter);
      // print objects
      System.out.println(objectOne);
      System.out.println(objectTwo);
   }    
}

Above program creates two objects and initializes their name and age fields. It also calls its static method which increments the value of static variable.
Finally, it prints the value of static variable and prints the objects created.
Notice the difference between the way static and non-static fields are accessed.
Output
Above program will produce below output.

Also, static fields should be accessed using class name only and not using objects.

Though you can access it using instance variable also but it is not recommended and the compiler will flag a warning such as

This is because static members do not belong to any particular object or instance.

static methods
A static method belongs to the class and not to any particular object. A static method is created by writing static keyword in method signature.
A static method can be invoked by using the name of its containing class as opposed to instance or object methods which are called with an object.
Example of static method is shown below.

public class StaticMethodDemo {
  static void test() {
    System.out.println("static method invoked");
  }
}

public class Tester {
  public static void main(String[] a) {
    // call static method
    StaticMethodDemo.test();
  }
}

A common example of static method is main method in java, which is invoked by JVM when the application or program is started.

Note that a static method can only access static fields and other static methods of a class, it can not access instance variables or non-static methods.
Reason is that static method belongs to a class and it does not know anything about class objects that are created at runtime.
Java static block
A static block is created using static keyword followed by opening and closing curly braces. static keyword is executed automatically as soon as a class is loaded for the first time. Thus, it is executed only once.
A static block is used to perform tasks that are required as the class is loaded. Examples of such tasks are:
1. Initializing static variables.
2. Loading a property or configuration file.
3. Creating database connection pool.

As with static methods, a static block can only access static variables and methods. Example of static block is

public class StaticMethodDemo { 

  static int counter;
  static { 
    System.out.println("Inside static block"); 
    printCounter();
    counter = 1;
    printCounter();
  } 

  static void printCounter() {
    System.out.println("Counter is: "+counter); 
  }
}

As this class is loaded, static block executes and prints below output

Non permissible static usage
Following can not be marked static in java

• Class(except nested class),
• Interface,
• Local variables,
• Constructors,
• Method local inner class.

Using static before the above will be a compiler error.
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