Question

I don’t really understand the following static block. I understand the static keyword when using with methods and variable, but I don’t know exactly what the purpose of the static key word on the following code.

static
    {
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "people", PEOPLE);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "people/#", PEOPLE_ID);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "people/#/phones", PEOPLE_PHONES);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "people/#/phones/#", PEOPLE_PHONES_ID);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "people/#/contact_methods", PEOPLE_CONTACTMETHODS);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "people/#/contact_methods/#", PEOPLE_CONTACTMETHODS_ID);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "deleted_people", DELETED_PEOPLE);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "phones", PHONES);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "phones/filter/*", PHONES_FILTER);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "phones/#", PHONES_ID);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "contact_methods", CONTACTMETHODS);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("contacts", "contact_methods/#", CONTACTMETHODS_ID);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("call_log", "calls", CALLS);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("call_log", "calls/filter/*", CALLS_FILTER);
        sURIMatcher.addURI("call_log", "calls/#", CALLS_ID);
    }

Answer 1

This is called static initializer block in Java. This will be executed on class load. Red this oracle tutorial.

static initializers may be used to initialize the class variables of the class.