Static and Instance Methods in Java

In Java, a method can belong to the class itself or to an object created from that class. Class-level methods are called static methods; object-level methods are called instance methods.

Static Methods

A static method belongs to the class. It can be called using the class name, without creating an object.

Example 1: Calling a Static Method

class StaticMethodDemo {
    // Static method belongs to the class
    static void greet() {
        System.out.println("Welcome to Java");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Same class: call directly
        greet();
    }
}

Output:

Welcome to Java

Explanation:

  • greet() is marked static, so it belongs to the StaticMethodDemo class. No object is needed.
  • Because main() is in the same class, we can call it directly as greet().
  • If the static method is in a different class, use that class name, for example Utility.greet().

Example 2: Calling a Static Method from Another Class

class Utility {
    static void greet() {
        System.out.println("Welcome to Java");
    }
}

class DifferentClassDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // greet() belongs to Utility, not this class
        Utility.greet();
    }
}

Output:

Welcome to Java

Explanation:

  • greet() is declared in the Utility class.
  • main() is inside DifferentClassDemo, so a direct greet() call would not work here.
  • We use Utility.greet() to tell Java which class owns the static method.

Instance Methods

An instance method belongs to an object. Create an object with new, then call the method through that object.

Example 3: Calling an Instance Method

class InstanceMethodDemo {
    // Instance method belongs to each object
    void greet() {
        System.out.println("Welcome to Java");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create an object, then call its method
        InstanceMethodDemo obj = new InstanceMethodDemo();
        obj.greet();
    }
}

Output:

Welcome to Java

Explanation:

greet() is not static, so it is an instance method. The object obj is created first and then used to call the method.

Static vs Instance Methods

The table compares the two kinds of methods.

Static methodInstance method
Belongs to the class.Belongs to an object.
Called with the class name.Called with an object.
Can directly access static members.Can access both static and instance members.

Explanation:

The main() method is static so Java can start the program without first creating an object.

Key Points:

  • Static methods belong to a class and are called with the class name.
  • Instance methods belong to objects and are called with an object.
  • A static method cannot directly use this or instance variables.

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