Java Basic - Static and Final Keyword

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Tables

Java Static ⤴

Java Static Variables ⤴

  • Java instance variables are given separate memory for storage. If there is a need for a variable to be common to all the objects of a single Java class, then the static modifier should be used in the variable declaration.
  • Any Java object that belongs to that class can modify its static variables.
  • Also, an instance is not a must to modify the static variable and it can be accessed using the Java class directly.
  • Static variables can be accessed by java instance methods also.
  • When the value of a constant is known a compile time it is declared ‘final’ using the ‘static’ keyword.

Java Static Methods ⤴

  • Similar to static variables, java static methods are also common to classes and not tied to a java instance.
  • Good practice in java is that, static methods should be invoked with using the class name though it can be invoked using an object. ClassName.methodName(arguments) or  objectName.methodName(arguments).
  • General use for java static methods is to access static fields.
  • Static methods can be accessed by java instance methods.
  • Java static methods cannot access instance variables or instance methods directly.
  • Java static methods cannot use the this keyword.

Java Static Class ⤴

  • For java classes, only an inner class can be declared using the static modifier. That basically helps you to use the nested/inner class without creating an instance of the outer class.
  • For java a static inner class it does not mean that, all their members are static. These are called nested static classes in java.

More discussion ⤴

  • We can overload static methods (by using the same name, also keyword ‘static’, but different in input parameters.)

    public static void foo();
public static void foo(int a);
  • We cannot overload two methods in Java if they differ only by static keyword (number of parameters and types of parameters are same).
  • We cannot override static methods. It still work, compile still ok, run find, but it is not override.

Java Static Import ⤴

read here

Java Final Keyword ⤴

  • A java variable can be declared using the keyword final. Then the final variable can be assigned only once.
  • A variable that is declared as final and not initialized is called a blank final variable. A blank final variable forces the constructors to initialize it.
  • Java classes declared as final cannot be extended. Restricting inheritance!
  • Methods declared as final cannot be overridden. In methods private is equal to final, but in variable it is not.
  • final parameters - values of the parameters cannot be changed after initialization. 
  • Java local classes can only reference local variables an parameters, that are declared as final.
  • A visible advantage of declaring a java variable as static final is, the compiled java class results in faster performance.

final arrays in Java ⤴

Arrays are objects and object variables are always references in Java. So, when we declare an array as final, its means that the array cannot be changed to refer to anything else, but the elements of array are changed without any problem.

Difference between C++ const variables and Java final variables ⤴

  • const variables in C++ must be assigned a value when declared.
  • With final variables in Java, it is not necessary. A final variable can be assigned value later, but only once.

More discussion ⤴

  • final should not be called as constants. Because when an array is declared as final, the state of the object stored in the array can be modified. You need to make it immutable in order not to allow modifications. In general context constants will not allow to modify. In C++, an array declared as const will not allow the above scenario but java allows. So java’s final is not the general constant used across in computer languages.
  • A variable is declared as static final is closed to constants in general software terminology. You must instantiate the variable when you declare it static final.
  • Assigning values to static final variables: in Java, non-static final variables can be assigned a value either in constructor or with the declaration. But, static final variables cannot be assigned value in constructor, they must be assigned a value with their declaration.
  • Since private methods are inaccessible, they are implicitly final in Java. So adding final specifier to a private method doesn’t add any value. It may in-fact cause unnecessary confusion.

References ⤴

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