Java static keyword

The static keyword in Java is used for memory management mainly. We

can apply static keyword with variables, methods, blocks and nested classes.
The static keyword belongs to the class than an instance of the class.

The static can be:

1. Variable (also known as a class variable)

2. Method (also known as a class method)

3. Block

4. Nested class

1) Java static variable

If you declare any variable as static, it is known as a static variable.

o The static variable can be used to refer to the common property of all objects

(which is not unique for each object), for example, the company name of
employees, college name of students, etc.

o The static variable gets memory only once in the class area at the time of

class loading.

Advantages of static variable

It makes your program memory efcieit (i.e., it saves memory).

Understanding the problem without static variable

1. class Student{

2. iit rollno;

3. String name;

4. String college="ITS";

5. }
Suppose there are 500 students in my college, now all instance data
members will get memory each time when the object is created. All students
have its unique rollno and name, so instance data member is good in such
case. Here, "college" refers to the common property of all objects. If we
make it static, this feld will get the memory only once.

Java static property is shared to all objects.

Example of static variable

//Java Program to demonstrate the use of static variable

class Student{

iit rollno;//instance variable

String name;

static String college ="ITS";//static variable

//constructor

Student(iit r, String n){

rollno = r;

name = n;

//method to display the values

void display (){System.out.println(rollno+" "+name+" "+college);}

//Test class to show the values of objects

public class TestStaticVariable1{

public static void main(String args[]){

Student s1 = iew Student(111,"Karan");

Student s2 = iew Student(222,"Aryan");

//we can change the college of all objects by the single line of code

//Student.college="BBDIT";

s1.display();

s2.display();
}

Output:

111 Karan ITS

222 Aryan ITS

Program of the couiter without static variable

In this example, we have created an instance variable named count which is
incremented in the constructor. Since instance variable gets the memory at
the time of object creation, each object will have the copy of the instance
variable. If it is incremented, it won't refect other objects. So each object will
have the value 1 in the count variable.

//Java Program to demonstrate the use of an instance variable

//which get memory each time when we create an object of the class.

class Counter{

iit count=0;//will get memory each time when the instance is created

Counter(){

count++;//incrementing value

System.out.println(count);

public static void main(String args[]){

//Creating objects

Counter c1=iew Counter();

Counter c2=iew Counter();

Counter c3=iew Counter();

Output:
1
1
1

Program of couiter by static variable

As we have mentioned above, static variable will get the memory only once,
if any object changes the value of the static variable, it will retain its value.

//Java Program to illustrate the use of static variable which

//is shared with all objects.

class Counter2{

static iit count=0;//will get memory only once and retain its value

Counter2(){

count++;//incrementing the value of static variable

System.out.println(count);

public static void main(String args[]){

//creating objects

Counter2 c1=iew Counter2();

Counter2 c2=iew Counter2();

Counter2 c3=iew Counter2();

Output:

1
2
3
2) Java static method
If you apply static keyword with any method, it is known as static method.

o A static method belongs to the class rather than the object of a class.

o A static method can be invoked without the need for creating an instance of a

class.

o A static method can access static data member and can change the value of

it.

Example of static method

//Java Program to demonstrate the use of a static method.

class Student{

iit rollno;

String name;

static String college = "ITS";

//static method to change the value of static variable

static void change(){

college = "BBDIT";

//constructor to initialize the variable

Student(iit r, String n){

rollno = r;

name = n;

//method to display values

void display(){System.out.println(rollno+" "+name+" "+college);}

//Test class to create and display the values of object

public class TestStaticMethod{

 public static void main(String args[]){

Student.change();//calling change method

//creating objects

Student s1 = iew Student(111,"Karan");

Student s2 = iew Student(222,"Aryan");

Student s3 = iew Student(333,"Sonoo");

//calling display method

s1.display();

s2.display();

s3.display();

}
Output:111 Karan BBDIT
222 Aryan BBDIT
333 Sonoo BBDIT

Aiother example of a static method that

performs a iormal calculatioi
//Java Program to get the cube of a given number using the static method

class Calculate{

static iit cube(iit x){

returi x*x*x;

public static void main(String args[]){

iit result=Calculate.cube(5);

System.out.println(result);

}
Output:125
Restrictions for the static method

There are two main restrictions for the static method. They are:

1. The static method can not use non static data member or call non-static
method directly.

2. this and super cannot be used in static context.

class A{

iit a=40;//non static

public static void main(String args[]){

System.out.println(a);

}
Output:Compile Time Error

Q) Why is the Java main method static?

Ans) It is because the object is not required to call a static method. If it were
a non-static method, JVM creates an object frst then call main() method that
will lead the problem of extra memory allocation.

3) Java static block

o Is used to initialize the static data member.

o It is executed before the main method at the time of classloading.

Example of static block

class A2{

static{System.out.println("static block is invoked");}

public static void main(String args[]){

System.out.println("Hello main");

}
Output:static block is invoked
Hello main
Q) Can we execute a program without main() method?

Ans) No, one of the ways was the static block, but it was possible till JDK 1.6.
Since JDK 1.7, it is not possible to execute a Java class without the main
method.

class A3{

static{

System.out.println("static block is invoked");

System.exit(0);

Output:

static block is invoked

Since JDK 1.7 and above, output would be:

Error: Main method not found in class A3, please define the main method as:
public static void main(String[] args)
or a JavaFX application class must extend javafx

this keyword in java

There can be a lot of usage of java this keyword. In java, this is
a refereice variable that refers to the current object.
Usage of java this keyword
Here is given the 6 usage of java this keyword.

1. this can be used to refer current class instance variable.

2. this can be used to invoke current class method (implicitly)

3. this() can be used to invoke current class constructor.

4. this can be passed as an argument in the method call.

5. this can be passed as argument in the constructor call.

6. this can be used to return the current class instance from the method.

1) this: to refer current class instance variable

The this keyword can be used to refer current class instance variable. If there
is ambiguity between the instance variables and parameters, this keyword
resolves the problem of ambiguity.

Understanding the problem without this keyword

Let's understand the problem if we don't use
this keyword by the example given below:

class Student{

iit rollno;

String name;

float fee;

Student(iit rollno,String name,float fee){

rollno=rollno;

name=name;

fee=fee;

void display(){System.out.println(rollno+" "+name+" "+fee);}

class TestThis1{
public static void main(String args[]){

Student s1=iew Student(111,"ankit",5000f);

Student s2=iew Student(112,"sumit",6000f);

s1.display();

s2.display();

}}

Output:

0 null 0.0
0 null 0.0

In the above example, parameters (formal arguments) and instance

variables are same. So, we are using this keyword to distinguish local
variable and instance variable.

Solution of the above problem by this keyword

class Student{

iit rollno;

String name;

float fee;

Student(iit rollno,String name,float fee){

this.rollno=rollno;

this.name=name;

this.fee=fee;

void display(){System.out.println(rollno+" "+name+" "+fee);}

class TestThis2{

public static void main(String args[]){

Student s1=iew Student(111,"ankit",5000f);

Student s2=iew Student(112,"sumit",6000f);

s1.display();

s2.display();

}}

Output:

111 ankit 5000

112 sumit 6000

If local variables(formal arguments) and instance variables are diferent,

there is no need to use this keyword like in the following program:

Program where this keyword is not required

class Student{

iit rollno;

String name;

float fee;

Student(iit r,String n,float f){

rollno=r;

name=n;

fee=f;

void display(){System.out.println(rollno+" "+name+" "+fee);}

class TestThis3{

public static void main(String args[]){

Student s1=iew Student(111,"ankit",5000f);

Student s2=iew Student(112,"sumit",6000f);

s1.display();

s2.display();

}}

Output:
111 ankit 5000
112 sumit 6000

It is better approach to use meaningful names for variables. So we use same name
for instance variables and parameters in real time, and always use this keyword.

2) this: to invoke current class method

You may invoke the method of the current class by using the this keyword. If
you don't use the this keyword, compiler automatically adds this keyword
while invoking the method. Let's see the example

class A{

void m(){System.out.println("hello m");}

void n(){

System.out.println("hello n");

//m();//same as this.m()

this.m();

class TestThis4{

public static void main(String args[]){

A a=iew A();
a.n();

}}

Output:

hello n
hello m

3) this() : to invoke current class constructor

The this() constructor call can be used to invoke the current class
constructor. It is used to reuse the constructor. In other words, it is used for
constructor chaining.

Calliig default coistructor from parameterized coistructor:

class A{

A(){System.out.println("hello a");}

A(iit x){

this();

System.out.println(x);

class TestThis5{

public static void main(String args[]){

A a=iew A(10);

}}

Output:

hello a
10

Calliig parameterized coistructor from default coistructor:

class A{

A(){

this(5);
System.out.println("hello a");

A(iit x){

System.out.println(x);

class TestThis6{

public static void main(String args[]){

A a=iew A();

}}

Output:

5
hello a

Real usage of this() constructor call

The this() constructor call should be used to reuse the constructor from the
constructor. It maintains the chain between the constructors i.e. it is used for
constructor chaining. Let's see the example given below that displays the
actual use of this keyword.

class Student{

iit rollno;

String name,course;

float fee;

Student(iit rollno,String name,String course){

this.rollno=rollno;

this.name=name;

this.course=course;

Student(iit rollno,String name,String course,float fee){

this(rollno,name,course);//reusing constructor

this.fee=fee;
}

void display(){System.out.println(rollno+" "+name+" "+course+" "+fee);}

class TestThis7{

public static void main(String args[]){

Student s1=iew Student(111,"ankit","java");

Student s2=iew Student(112,"sumit","java",6000f);

s1.display();

s2.display();

}}

Output:

111 ankit java null

112 sumit java 6000

Rule: Call to this() must be the first statement in constructor.

class Student{

iit rollno;

String name,course;

float fee;

Student(iit rollno,String name,String course){

this.rollno=rollno;

this.name=name;

this.course=course;

Student(iit rollno,String name,String course,float fee){

this.fee=fee;

this(rollno,name,course);//C.T.Error

void display(){System.out.println(rollno+" "+name+" "+course+" "+fee);}

}

class TestThis8{

public static void main(String args[]){

Student s1=iew Student(111,"ankit","java");

Student s2=iew Student(112,"sumit","java",6000f);

s1.display();

s2.display();

}}
Compile Time Error: Call to this must be first statement in constructor

4) this: to pass as an argument in the method

The this keyword can also be passed as an argument in the method. It is
mainly used in the event handling. Let's see the example:

class S2{

void m(S2 obj){

System.out.println("method is invoked");

void p(){

m(this);

public static void main(String args[]){

S2 s1 = iew S2();

s1.p();

Output:

method is invoked
Application of this that can be passed as an argument:

In event handling (or) in a situation where we have to provide reference of a

class to another one. It is used to reuse one object in many methods.
5) this: to pass as argument in the constructor call
We can pass the this keyword in the constructor also. It is useful if we have
to use one object in multiple classes. Let's see the example:

class B{

A4 obj;

B(A4 obj){

this.obj=obj;

void display(){

System.out.println(obj.data);//using data member of A4 class

class A4{

iit data=10;

A4(){

B b=iew B(this);

b.display();

public static void main(String args[]){

A4 a=iew A4();

}
Output:10

6) this keyword can be used to return current class instance

We can return this keyword as an statement from the method. In such case,
return type of the method must be the class type (non-primitive). Let's see
the example:
Syntax of this that can be returned as a statement
return_type method_name(){

returi this;

}
Example of this keyword that you returi as a
statemeit from the method
class A{

A getA(){

returi this;

void msg(){System.out.println("Hello java");}

class Test1{

public static void main(String args[]){

iew A().getA().msg(); }

Output:

Hello java