In this section, we discuss the use of thestatic
keyword to create fields and methods that belong to the class, rather than to an instance of the class.Class Variables
When a number of objects are created from the same class blueprint, they each have their own distinct copies of instance variables. In the case of theBicycle
class, the instance variables arecadence
,gear
, andspeed
. EachBicycle
object has its own values for these variables, stored in different memory locations.Sometimes, you want to have variables that are common to all objects. This is accomplished with the
static
modifier. Fields that have thestatic
modifier in their declaration are called static fields or class variables. They are associated with the class, rather than with any object. Every instance of the class shares a class variable, which is in one fixed location in memory. Any object can change the value of a class variable, but class variables can also be manipulated without creating an instance of the class.For example, suppose you want to create a number of
Bicycle
objects and assign each a serial number, beginning with 1 for the first object. This ID number is unique to each object and is therefore an instance variable. At the same time, you need a field to keep track of how manyBicycle
objects have been created so that you know what ID to assign to the next one. Such a field is not related to any individual object, but to the class as a whole. For this you need a class variable,numberOfBicycles
, as follows:Class variables are referenced by the class name itself, as inpublic class Bicycle{ private int cadence; private int gear; private int speed; // add an instance variable for the object ID private int id; // add a class variable for the number of Bicycle objects instantiated private static int numberOfBicycles = 0; ...... }This makes it clear that they are class variables.Bicycle.numberOfBicycles
Note: You can also refer to static fields with an object reference likebut this is discouraged because it does not make it clear that they are class variables.myBike.numberOfBicyclesYou can use the
Bicycle
constructor to set theid
instance variable and increment thenumberOfBicycles
class variable:public class Bicycle{ private int cadence; private int gear; private int speed; private int id; private static int numberOfBicycles = 0; public Bicycle(int startCadence, int startSpeed, int startGear){ gear = startGear; cadence = startCadence; speed = startSpeed; // increment number of Bicycles and assign ID number id = ++numberOfBicycles; } // new method to return the ID instance variable public int getID() { return id; } ..... }Class Methods
The Java programming language supports static methods as well as static variables. Static methods, which have thestatic
modifier in their declarations, should be invoked with the class name, without the need for creating an instance of the class, as inClassName.methodName(args)
Note: You can also refer to static methods with an object reference likebut this is discouraged because it does not make it clear that they are class variables.instanceName.methodName(args)
A common use for static methods is to access static fields. For example, we could add a static method to the
Bicycle
class to access thenumberOfBicycles
static field:Not all combinations of instance and class variables and methods are allowed:public static int getNumberOfBicycles() { return numberOfBicycles; }
- Instance methods can access instance variables and instance methods directly.
- Instance methods can access class variables and class methods directly.
- Class methods can access class variables and class methods directly.
- Class methods cannot access instance variables or instance methods directly—they must use an object reference. Also, class methods cannot use the
this
keyword as there is no instance forthis
to refer to.Constants
Thestatic
modifier, in combination with thefinal
modifier, is also used to define constants. Thefinal
modifier indicates that the value of this field cannot change.For example, the following variable declaration defines a constant named
PI
, whose value is an approximation of pi (the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter):Constants defined in this way cannot be reassigned, and it is a compile-time error if your program tries to do so. By convention, the name of constant values are spelled in uppercase letters. If the name is composed of more than one word, the words are separated by an underscore (_).static final double PI = 3.141592653589793;
Note: If a primitive type or a string is defined as a constant and the value is known at compile time, the compiler replaces the constant name everywhere in the code with its value. This is called a compile-time constant. If the value of the constant in the outside world changes (for example, if it is legislated that pi actually should be 3.975), you will need to recompile any classes that use this constant to get the current value.The
After all the modifications made in this section, theBicycle
ClassBicycle
class is now:public class Bicycle{ private int cadence; private int gear; private int speed; private int id; private static int numberOfBicycles = 0; public Bicycle(int startCadence, int startSpeed, int startGear){ gear = startGear; cadence = startCadence; speed = startSpeed; id = ++numberOfBicycles; } public int getID() { return id; } public static int getNumberOfBicycles() { return numberOfBicycles; } public int getCadence(){ return cadence; } public void setCadence(int newValue){ cadence = newValue; } public int getGear(){ return gear; } public void setGear(int newValue){ gear = newValue; } public int getspeed(){ return speed; } public void applyBrake(int decrement){ speed -= decrement; } public void speedUp(int increment){ speed += increment; } }