Static Members

Last Updated: November 18, 2012

Definition - What does Static Members mean?

Static members are data members (variables) or methods that belong to a static or a non static class itself, rather than to objects of the class. Static members always remain the same, regardless of where and how they are used. Because static members are associated with the class, it is not necessary to create an instance of that class to invoke them.

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Techopedia explains Static Members

Static methods in languages, such as C# and Java, can be called using the following syntax: clsName.mthName(args), where clsName is the class name and mthName is the static method name. Static variables can also be accessed through their class name as follows: clsName.VarName, where VarName is the static variable name.

Since a static variable is associated with the class, only one copy of the variable exists in memory. This copy is shared by all objects of that class.

Some of the features of static members are as follows:

A static member has access to all static members of its containing class, including private members.
A static member can be declared using access control modifiers.
A static member class can use any other static member without qualifying its name with the name of the containing class.

A static member class cannot have the same name as any of its enclosing classes. Static member classes and interfaces can be defined only within top-level classes and other static member classes and interfaces.