STATIC MEMBERS AND
METHODS
Static Members
2
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.
Static Variables
3 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;
Static Variables - Example
4 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..
}
Class Variables - Example
5 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);
} Circle(10, 12, 20)
circleA = new circleB = new Circle(0, 0, 0)
}
numCircles
Non-static Vs Static Variables
6
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)
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
8
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.
The Math Class
5-9
The Math class provides a number of
standard mathematical methods
It is found in the java.lang package, so it does
not require an import statement
All of its methods and data are static, therefore
they are invoked with the class name Math
instead of a calling object
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;
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All
rights reserved.
Some Methods in the Class Math
(Part 1 of 5)
5-
10
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All
rights reserved.
Some Methods in the Class Math
(Part 2 of 5)
5-
11
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All
rights reserved.
Some Methods in the Class Math
(Part 3 of 5)
5-
12
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All
rights reserved.
Some Methods in the Class Math
(Part 4 of 5)
5-
13
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All
rights reserved.
Some Methods in the Class Math
(Part 5 of 5)
5-
14
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All
rights reserved.
Comparator class with Static
15
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 staticDirectly
Stringaccessed using ClassName
max(String a, String(NO
b) Objects)
{
if( a.compareTo (b) > 0)
return a;
else
return b;
}
}
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
17
They can only call other static methods.
They can only access static data.
They cannot refer to “this” or “super”
(more later) in anyway.
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
