Question

I know the difference between static type and other types but I am not sure which is to used where. Now I am using static types in all places to avoid object instantiation. Is it a good idea to use it that way ? Is there any particular disadvantage in using static type in all places ??

EDIT

What do you call this as static String staff ?

Answer 1

This is an excellent question. Usually you should not use static methods/variables unless you know for sure that it’s a correct application for it. In object oriented programming (OOP), objects encapsulate data and behavior. Typically, *instance methods are used to manipulate the object’s data.

Static methods/variables should only be used for functionality that is not associated with any particular object. A good example of a valid application for static is Math.random().

Some notes about instance and static methods/variables:

• Instance variables have access to static and instance variables/methods, but static methods can only access other static variables/methods.
• A static variable will always be the same across all instances of a class.

A good book to read that covers this topic is Clean Code by Robert Martin. Highly recommended.

*instance methods are the opposite of static methods. They are associated with a class instance, instead of the class itself.

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Addressing your edit, assuming that that’s a variable, you’d access it like this:

MyClass.staff = "bob, george, and linda";
System.out.println(MyClass.staff);

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Edit: here’s a post I made on another forum a while back, with some good answers. It’s a PHP forum, but the concepts still apply.

http://forums.devnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=127667