What are the differences between import and static import statements in Java?

The import statement is used to bring certain classes and interfaces from other packages into our Java program, so we can access them without using their fully qualified names. We can use the short name instead.

Java also supports static import statements, which were introduced in Java 5. It helps in accessing static members such as methods and constants. In this article, we are going to learn the difference between import and static import statements in Java.

The import Statement in Java

To access a class or method from another package, we need to either use the fully qualified name or use the import statement. However, the class or method must be accessible, and its accessibility is determined by the Java access modifiers.

For example, private members are only accessible within the same class, so they cannot be accessed even with the fully qualified name or the import statement.

Important! the java.lang package is automatically imported into our code by Java.

Example

In this example, we will show the use of the import statement in Java:

import java.util.Vector;
public class ImportDemo {
   public ImportDemo() {
      //Imported using keyword
      Vector<String> v = new Vector<>();
      v.add("Tutorials");
      v.add("Point");
      v.add("India");
      System.out.println("Vector values are: "+ v);
      //Package not imported
      java.util.ArrayList<String> list = new java.util.ArrayList<>();
      list.add("Tutorix");
      list.add("India");
      System.out.println("Array List values are: "+ list);
   }
   public static void main(String arg[]) {
      new ImportDemo();
   }
}

Output of the above code:

Vector values are: [Tutorials, Point, India]
Array List values are: [Tutorix, India]

The static import Statement

The static import allows us to import static members so that they can be used without specifying the class name. Its declaration has two forms: one that imports a particular static member, which is known as a single static import, and one that imports all static members of a class, which is known as a static import on demand.

Example

In this example, we are importing System using the static keyword:

//Using Static Import
import static java.lang.System.*; 
public class StaticImportDemo {
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      //System.out is not used as it is imported using the keyword static
      out.println("Welcome to Tutorials Point");
   }
}

The above code will produce the following output:

Welcome to Tutorials Point

The import VS static import statements in Java

Now, let's discuss the difference between import and static import statements: