What is a "static class" in Java?

Question

Is there anything like static class in Java?

What is the meaning of such a class? Do all the methods of the static class need to be static too?

Is it required the other way round as well? That if a class contains only static methods, the class shall be static too?

What are static classes good for?

Answer 1

What happens when members inside a class are declared as static? Those members can be accessed without instantiating the class. Therefore making outer class(top level class) static has no meaning. Therefore it is not allowed.

But you can set inner classes as static (As it is a member of the top level class). Then that class can be accessed without instantiating the top level class. Consider the following example.

public class A {
    public static class B {

    }
}

Now, inside a different class C, class B can be accessed without making an instance of class A.

public class C {
    A.B ab = new A.B();
}

static classes can have non-static members too. Only the class gets static.

But if the static keyword is removed from class B, it cannot be accessed directly without making an instance of A.

public class C {
    A a = new A();
    A.B ab = a. new B();
}

But we cannot have static members inside a non-static inner class.

Answer 2

My answer is going to be similar to an answer above, although mine may be more clear and with a much more clear example.

By saying you want the class to be static, you are saying that you basically only need one instance of that class to ever exist, therefore we can create an instance variable of that class within the class itself, I have really only seen this used with objects that are used to return hardcoded or default values.

You basically create a static instance of the class within the class itself. This is automatically constructed upon the class being called, and because the INSTANCE is static, there is only one instance of the class. The effectively makes your top-level Java class static.

Here is an example:

public class A {
    private static final A INSTANCE = new A();

    public static A getInstance() {
        return INSTANCE;
    }
}

Then you can add all of your other methods to that class. This results in only one instance of this class existing. In this scenario, you do not use a constructor.

Answer 3

A static class is a class that belongs to the class itself rather than to any particular instance of the class. It's used for grouping related methods or constants together, and it doesn't require an instance to be created to access its members. Static classes are often used for utility functions or for organizing code.

Some points to remember:

• Static classes are always nested classes
• Access only static members of the Outer class.
• Outer class can not be static.
• Overusing static classes can lead to tightly coupled code, which can be harder to maintain and test

Answer 4

Is there anything like static class in java?

Singletons are 'like' a Static Class. I'm surprised no one has mentioned them yet.

public final class ClassSingleton { 

private static ClassSingleton INSTANCE;
private String info = "Initial info class";

private ClassSingleton() {        
}

public static ClassSingleton getInstance() {
    if(INSTANCE == null) {
        INSTANCE = new ClassSingleton();
    }
    
    return INSTANCE;
}

// getters and setters

public String getInfo(){
    return info;
  }
}

Usage is something like:

String infoFromSingleton = ClassSingleton.getInstance().getInfo()

Singletons are great for storing ArrayLists/List/Collection Classes/etc... If you are often gathering, updating, copying collections from multiple areas and need for these collections to be in sync. Or a Many to One.

Answer 5

All good answers, but I did not saw a reference to java.util.Collections which uses tons of static inner class for their static factor methods. So adding the same.

Adding an example from java.util.Collections which has multiple static inner class. Inner classes are useful to group code which needs to be accessed via outer class.

/**
 * @serial include
 */
static class UnmodifiableSet<E> extends UnmodifiableCollection<E>
                             implements Set<E>, Serializable {
    private static final long serialVersionUID = -9215047833775013803L;

    UnmodifiableSet(Set<? extends E> s)     {super(s);}
    public boolean equals(Object o) {return o == this || c.equals(o);}
    public int hashCode()           {return c.hashCode();}
}

Here is the static factor method in the java.util.Collections class

public static <T> Set<T> unmodifiableSet(Set<? extends T> s) {
    return new UnmodifiableSet<>(s);
}

Answer 6

A static method means that it can be accessed without creating an object of the class, unlike public:

public class MyClass {
   // Static method
   static void myStaticMethod() {
      System.out.println("Static methods can be called without creating objects");
   }

  // Public method
  public void myPublicMethod() {
      System.out.println("Public methods must be called by creating objects");
   }

  // Main method
  public static void main(String[ ] args) {
      myStaticMethod(); // Call the static method
    // myPublicMethod(); This would output an error

    MyClass myObj = new MyClass(); // Create an object of MyClass
    myObj.myPublicMethod(); // Call the public method
  }
}

Answer 7

You cannot use the static keyword with a class unless it is an inner class. A static inner class is a nested class which is a static member of the outer class. It can be accessed without instantiating the outer class, using other static members. Just like static members, a static nested class does not have access to the instance variables and methods of the outer class.

public class Outer {
   static class Nested_Demo {
      public void my_method() {
          System.out.println("This is my nested class");
      }
   }
public static void main(String args[]) {
      Outer.Nested_Demo nested = new Outer.Nested_Demo();
      nested.my_method();
   }
}

Answer 8

Can a class be static in Java ?

The answer is YES, we can have static class in java. In java, we have static instance variables as well as static methods and also static block. Classes can also be made static in Java.

In java, we can’t make Top-level (outer) class static. Only nested classes can be static.

static nested class vs non-static nested class

1) Nested static class doesn’t need a reference of Outer class, but Non-static nested class or Inner class requires Outer class reference.

2) Inner class(or non-static nested class) can access both static and non-static members of Outer class. A static class cannot access non-static members of the Outer class. It can access only static members of Outer class.

see here: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/nested.html

Answer 9

In simple terms, Java supports the declaration of a class to be static only for the inner classes but not for the top level classes.

top level classes: A java project can contain more than one top level classes in each java source file, one of the classes being named after the file name. There are only three options or keywords allowed in front of the top level classes, public, abstract and final.

Inner classes: classes that are inside of a top level class are called inner classes, which is basically the concept of nested classes. Inner classes can be static. The idea making the inner classes static, is to take the advantage of instantiating the objects of inner classes without instantiating the object of the top level class. This is exactly the same way as the static methods and variables work inside of a top level class.

Hence Java Supports Static Classes at Inner Class Level (in nested classes)

And Java Does Not Support Static Classes at Top Level Classes.

I hope this gives a simpler solution to the question for basic understanding of the static classes in Java.

Answer 10

Java has static nested classes but it sounds like you're looking for a top-level static class. Java has no way of making a top-level class static but you can simulate a static class like this:

• Declare your class final - Prevents extension of the class since extending a static class makes no sense
• Make the constructor private - Prevents instantiation by client code as it makes no sense to instantiate a static class
• Make all the members and functions of the class static - Since the class cannot be instantiated no instance methods can be called or instance fields accessed
• Note that the compiler will not prevent you from declaring an instance (non-static) member. The issue will only show up if you attempt to call the instance member

Simple example per suggestions from above:

public class TestMyStaticClass {
     public static void main(String []args){
        MyStaticClass.setMyStaticMember(5);
        System.out.println("Static value: " + MyStaticClass.getMyStaticMember());
        System.out.println("Value squared: " + MyStaticClass.squareMyStaticMember());
        // MyStaticClass x = new MyStaticClass(); // results in compile time error
     }
}

// A top-level Java class mimicking static class behavior
public final class MyStaticClass {
    private MyStaticClass () { // private constructor
        myStaticMember = 1;
    }
    private static int myStaticMember;
    public static void setMyStaticMember(int val) {
        myStaticMember = val;
    }
    public static int getMyStaticMember() {
        return myStaticMember;
    }
    public static int squareMyStaticMember() {
        return myStaticMember * myStaticMember;
    }
}

What good are static classes? A good use of a static class is in defining one-off, utility and/or library classes where instantiation would not make sense. A great example is the Math class that contains some mathematical constants such as PI and E and simply provides mathematical calculations. Requiring instantiation in such a case would be unnecessary and confusing. See the Math class and source code. Notice that it is final and all of its members are static. If Java allowed top-level classes to be declared static then the Math class would indeed be static.

Answer 11

There is a static nested class, this [static nested] class does not need an instance of the enclosing class in order to be instantiated itself.

These classes [static nested ones] can access only the static members of the enclosing class [since it does not have any reference to instances of the enclosing class...]

code sample:

public class Test { 
  class A { } 
  static class B { }
  public static void main(String[] args) { 
    /*will fail - compilation error, you need an instance of Test to instantiate A*/
    A a = new A(); 
    /*will compile successfully, not instance of Test is needed to instantiate B */
    B b = new B(); 
  }
}

Answer 12

Seeing as this is the top result on Google for "static class java" and the best answer isn't here I figured I'd add it. I'm interpreting OP's question as concerning static classes in C#, which are known as singletons in the Java world. For those unaware, in C# the "static" keyword can be applied to a class declaration which means the resulting class can never be instantiated.

Excerpt from "Effective Java - Second Edition" by Joshua Bloch (widely considered to be one of the best Java style guides available):

As of release 1.5, there is a third approach to implementing singletons. Simply make an enum type with one element:

// Enum singleton - the preferred approach
public enum Elvis {
    INSTANCE;
    public void leaveTheBuilding() { ... }
}

This approach is functionally equivalent to the public field approach, except that it is more concise, provides the serialization machinery for free , and provides an ironclad guarantee against multiple instantiation, even in the face of sophisticated serialization or reflection attacks. While this approach has yet to be widely adopted, a single-element enum type is the best way to implement a singleton. (emphasis author's)

Bloch, Joshua (2008-05-08). Effective Java (Java Series) (p. 18). Pearson Education.

I think the implementation and justification are pretty self explanatory.

Answer 13

Yes there is a static nested class in java. When you declare a nested class static, it automatically becomes a stand alone class which can be instantiated without having to instantiate the outer class it belongs to.

Example:

public class A
{

 public static class B
 {
 }
}

Because class B is declared static you can explicitly instantiate as:

B b = new B();

Note if class B wasn't declared static to make it stand alone, an instance object call would've looked like this:

A a= new A();
B b = a.new B();

Answer 14

Outer classes cannot be static, but nested/inner classes can be. That basically helps you to use the nested/inner class without creating an instance of the outer class.

Answer 15

Java has static methods that are associated with classes (e.g. java.lang.Math has only static methods), but the class itself is not static.

Answer 16

Well, Java has "static nested classes", but they're not at all the same as C#'s static classes, if that's where you were coming from. A static nested class is just one which doesn't implicitly have a reference to an instance of the outer class.

Static nested classes can have instance methods and static methods.

There's no such thing as a top-level static class in Java.