Static Method in Java:
In Java, a static method is a method that belongs to the class rather than to an instance of the class. It is associated with the class itself, not with the objects created from the class. Static methods are declared using the static keyword, and they can be called using the class name without creating an instance of the class.
Syntax:
public class ClassName {
// Static method
public static returnType methodName(parameters) {
// Method body
}
}
Example:
Let’s create a simple Java program that includes a static method. In this example, we’ll create a class called MathOperations with a static method for calculating the square of a number.
public class MathOperations {
// Static method to calculate the square of a number
public static int square(int num) {
return num * num;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Calling the static method without creating an instance
int result = MathOperations.square(5);
// Displaying the result
System.out.println("Square of 5: " + result);
}
}
In this example:
- The
MathOperationsclass has a static method calledsquare, which takes an integer parameter and returns the square of that number. - In the
mainmethod, we call the static method directly using the class nameMathOperations.square(5). - The result is then displayed on the console.
Static methods are commonly used for utility functions, where the logic of the method does not depend on the state of an object and can be applied to the class as a whole. They are called using the class name and are not associated with any specific instance of the class.