1. An instance variable is one per Object, every object has its own copy of instance variable.
Eg:
public class Test{
int x = 5;
}
Test t1 = new Test();
Test t2 = new Test();
Both t1
and t2
will have its own copy of x
.
2. A static variable is one per Class, every object of that class shares the same Static variable.
Eg:
public class Test{
public static int x = 5;
}
Test t1 = new Test();
Test t2 = new Test();
Both t1
and t2
will have the exactly one x to share between them.
3. A static variable is initialized when the JVM loads the class.
4. A static method
cannot access Non-static
variable or method.
5. Static methods
along with Static variables
can mimic a Singleton Pattern
, but IT’S NOT THE RIGHT WAY, as in when there are lots of classes, then we can’t be sure about the class loading order of JVM, and this may create a problem.