I'm getting super confused with all this public private static stuff

[bobastley]

Decided to hop into another project after a long while of no programming, which sadly had to be in Java. Not sure if this only applies to Java, or other languages as well though. After looking at some source code, I began to get super confused about the exact meaning of all this public static and private static stuff.

I guess my understanding of what public and private methods actually are, but as far as I know public methods can be accessed from any class, while private methods can only be accessed by the parent class and its methods.

Then what exactly is static? Googling and having a long explanation with ChatGPT only made me more confused, so could someone explain what static is and how exactly static methods work? When would you use public and private along with it and why do you even need to use it in the first place?

[QwertyQwerty88]

@Phind (an AI)

In Java, the static keyword is used to define class-level variables and methods. When a variable or method is declared as static, it means that the variable or method belongs to the class itself rather than to any specific instance of the class. This means that there is only one copy of the variable or method in memory, regardless of how many instances of the class are created Source 0.

Here is an example of a static variable and method:

public class StaticExample {
    private static int count = 0; // static variable

    public static void printCount() { // static method
        System.out.println("Number of Example objects created so far: " + count);
    }
}

In this example, the count variable is a static variable, and the printCount() method is a static method. The count variable is shared across all instances of the StaticExample class, and the printCount() method can be called without creating an instance of the StaticExample class Source 0.

Static methods have access to static variables without using the class’s object (instance). They can be accessed directly using the class name, for example, StaticExample.printCount() Source 1.

Static methods are often used to perform operations that are not dependent on instance creation. They are also commonly used in utility or helper classes so that they can be accessed without creating a new object of these classes Source 5.

Here is an example of a static method:

public class StaticExample {
    private static int count = 0; // static variable

    public static void incrementCount() { // static method
        count++;
    }
}

In this example, the incrementCount() method is a static method that increments the count variable. It can be called without creating an instance of the StaticExample class Source 5.

It’s important to note that static methods can only access static data and cannot access non-static data (instance variables). They cannot refer to the this or super keywords in any way Source 6.

In summary, the static keyword in Java is used to define static variables and methods that belong to the class itself rather than to any specific instance of the class. Static methods can be used to perform operations that are not dependent on instance creation, and they can be accessed directly using the class name.

https://www.phind.com/search?cache=u0dwruo422suo5mvz42ka5fu