Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial
mohamadreza azadi
5,167 Pointsstatic keyword
i'm so confused to static keyword : static keyword never needs to define keyword new right? but why we used this keyword ? for what? please help me
2 Answers
Thomas Nilsen
14,957 PointsOne example would be if you want to store a value across several instances. Here is an example:
class Person {
public static int numberOfPeople = 0;
private String name;
{
numberOfPeople++;
}
Person() {
this.name = "Default Name";
}
Person(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
}
class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person p1 = new Person("Mark");
Person p2 = new Person("Joe");
Person p3 = new Person();
//This will print 3
System.out.println(Person.numberOfPeople);
}
}
Morgan Franklin
6,419 PointsA static keyword can be used outside of the class it was defined in.
osman musse
58 PointsObviously but mohammedreza wanted another useful purpose of the Static Keyword.
Quinton Rivera
5,177 PointsQuinton Rivera
5,177 PointsIt allows you to use a method of class with creating an object of the class.
You can just use the method because it represents the value of the entire class.
Its like if you birds maybe 10 of them, instead of counting them, if you have a static variable, you can just call that static variable to find out the total number of birds instead of calling them, static variables keep track of class objects.