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Java Java Objects (Retired) Harnessing the Power of Objects Helper Methods and Conditionals

Posted by Unsubscribed User
Unsubscribed User
1,785 Points

I don't really get what public, private and static are for?

Could explain me when to use it and what it's for?

Btw: Why should I use final if I can just set it to private?

2 Answers

Cindy Lea
PLUS
Cindy Lea
Courses Plus Student 6,497 Points
Cindy Lea
Cindy Lea
Courses Plus Student 6,497 Points

In simple terms: private hides from other classes within the package. Public exposes to classes outside the package. In Java, a static member is a member of a class that isn’t associated with an instance of a class. Instead, the member belongs to the class itself. As a result, you can access the static member without first creating a class instance.

Rob Watts
Rob Watts
2,739 Points
Rob Watts
Rob Watts
2,739 Points

Nice explanation. The static keyword is particularly confusing.

Marcus Mingo
Marcus Mingo
18,424 Points
Marcus Mingo
Marcus Mingo
18,424 Points

Cindy covered just about everything. Think of 'static' as Java's way of making a member function or variable readily available to any part of the entire program. If you have a static constant variable that you need to use in every package of your entire program, you would just have to import the proper file and call the variable as you would any other member method or variable. With static the changes to a non-static variable can override the original data, so if the intent is to provide something more incremental in purpose, then there is that use as well. Some people refer to static as Java's version of global.