Calling non-static methods in java

Question

I have question about static methods in Java. Why is that I can call a non-static method in another non-static method without specifying an instance of the class. For example if I have two non-static methods foo1() and foo2(), I can say foo2(){ foo() }. I can't do this in a static method. For example static void foo3(){ foo() }, this would not compile. Is this. implicit when you call other methods in a non-static method?

Thank you.

@assylias Yes, really. If the OP were taking about a static method calling another static method in the same class ... we wouldn't be having this conversation because that works just fine as well. — Brian Roach, Feb 24 '13 at 08:30

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 24 '13 at 08:13

Why is that I can call a non-static method in another non-static method without specifying an instance of the class.

Because it's implicitly calling it on this:

public void foo1() {
    foo2();
}

is equivalent to:

public void foo1() {
    this.foo2();
}

In a static method, there is no this to implicitly use as the target of the call.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 24 '13 at 08:13

In a non-static context, you are in an instance of a class. You can call other non-static methods on that class, because you're calling that method on this. In a static context, you have no this, so you can't call methods without a particular instance.

Calling non-static methods in java

2 Answers2