STATIC MEMBERS AND

METHODS
Static Members
 Java supports definition of global methods and variables that
can be accessed without creating objects of a class. Such
members are called Static members.
 Define a variable by marking with the static keyword .
 This feature is useful when we want to create a variable
common to all instances of a class.
 One of the most common example is to have a variable that
could keep a count of how many objects of a class have been
created.
 Note: Java creates only one copy for a static variable which
can be used even if the class is never instantiated.

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Static Variables
 Define using static:

public class Circle {

// class variable, one for the Circle class, how many circles
public static int numCircles;

//instance variables,one for each instance of a Circle

public double x,y,r;
// Constructors...
}

 Access with the class name (ClassName.StatVarName):

nCircles = Circle.numCircles;
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Static Variables - Example
 Using static variables:
public class Circle {
// class variable, one for the Circle class, how many circles
public static int numCircles = 0;
private double x,y,r;

// Constructors...
Circle (){
numCircles++;}
Circle (double x, double y, double r){
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
this.r = r;
numCircles++; }
CalculateCircumference()
Get and Set for all..
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}
Class Variables - Example
 Using static variables:

public class CircleRunner{

public static void main(String args[]){

Circle circleA = new Circle( 10, 12, 20); // numCircles = 1
Circle circleB = new Circle(); // numCircles = 2
S.O.P ( Circle.numCircle);
}
}
circleA = new Circle(10, 12, 20) circleB = new Circle(0, 0, 0)

numCircles
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Non-static Vs Static Variables

 Non-static variables : One copy per object. Every

object has its own instance variable.
 E.g. x, y, r (centre and radius in the circle)

 Static variables : One copy per class.

 E.g. numCircles (total number of circle objects created)

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Important Points
 Use a static variable when all objects of a class must
use the same copy of the variable.
 Static variables have class scope. We can access a
class’s public static members through a reference to
any object of the class, or by qualifying the member
name with the class name and a dot (.)
 A class’s private static class members can be
accessed by client code only through methods of the
class.
Static Methods
 A class can have methods that are defined as static
(e.g., main method).
 Static methods can be accessed without using objects.
Also, there is NO need to create objects.
 They are prefixed with keyword “static”
 Static methods are generally used to group related
library functions that don’t depend on data members
of its class. For example, Math library functions.

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 The Math class has two predefined constants, E (e, the base
of the natural logarithm system) and PI (, 3.1415 . . .)
area = Math.PI * radius * radius;

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Comparator class with Static methods
// Comparator.java: A class with static data items comparision methods

class Comparator {
public static int max(int a, int b)
{
if( a > b)
return a;
else
return b;
}

public static String max(String a, String b)

{ Directly accessed using ClassName (NO Objects)
if( a.compareTo (b) > 0)
return a;
else
return b;
}
}
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class MyClass {
public static void main(String args[])
{
String s1 = "Melbourne";
String s2 = "Sydney";
String s3 = "Adelaide";

int a = 10;
int b = 20;

System.out.println(Comparator.max(a, b)); // which number is big

System.out.println(Comparator.max(s1, s2)); // which city is big
System.out.println(Comparator.max(s1, s3)); // which city is big
}
}
Static methods restrictions
 They can only call other static methods.
 They can only access static data.
 They cannot refer to “this” or “super” (more later) in
anyway.

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 A static method cannot access non-static class
members, because a static method can be called
even when no objects of the class have been
instantiated.
 For the same reason, the this reference cannot be
used in a static method. The this reference must
refer to a specific object of the class, and when a
static method is called, there might not be any
objects of its class in memory.
Example – static data and methods
 Create a SavingsAccount class.
 Use a static data member annualInterestRate to store the
annual interest rate.
 The class contains a private data member savingsBalance
indicating the balance of account.
 Provide member function calculateMonthlyInterest that
calculates the monthly interest by multiplying the balance by
annualInterestRate divided by 12; this interest should be
added to savingsBalance.
 Provide a static member function modifyInterestRate that sets
the static annualInterestRate to a new value.
 Write a driver program to test class SavingsAccount.
Instantiate two different objects of class
SavingsAccount, saver1 and saver2, with balances of
$2000.00 and $3000.00, respectively.
 Set the annualInterestRate to 3 percent.
 Then calculate the monthly interest and print the new
balances for each of the savers.
 Then set the annualInterestRate to 4 percent, calculate
the next month's interest and print the new balances
for each of the savers.
Example - Calculator
 Create a class TwoDigitCalculator which allows user
to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division on 2 digits.

 Analyse the data members and methods of this

class and implement
END