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While reading THIS question and accepted answer for the question, I was unable to get the difference between these two types of methods. Actually got the point by reading the example, but then, I was not able to write my own static method.

I tried googling create static method in objective c static methods

Which returned me links to THIS and THIS question. But, the example here are CLASS methods as per the first link in the question. Which is confusing me.

Can anyone here show me how do I create a static method which is not a class method ?

Any light on this would be appreciated.

Community
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viral
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  • A static method ***is*** a class level access method. This difference is "nothing". However, you can make global, static ***c-style*** methods which are static yet not part of a class – James Webster Apr 12 '13 at 07:51
  • What do u mean bu static method outside class? How it can be different by normal method? – CRDave Apr 12 '13 at 07:59

1 Answers1

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The problem you are having is the following - there are no static methods in Obj-C, that's why you cannot create them.

The difference between static and class methods is a difference between language concepts. You can find static methods in languages like Java or C++, you will find class methods in languages like Obj-C and Ruby.

The principal difference is that

  1. Static methods are shared between all instances (this doesn't exist in Obj-C). They are dispatched statically (at compile time) depending on the type of the variable.

  2. Class method is a method on a class. In languages like Obj-C and Ruby a class itself is an instance of another class (metaclass). Using + before a method declaration means the method will be defined on the class. Technically, it's just an instance method, just on a different object.

Don't worry if you don't understand the concept of class method perfectly, it takes time. To simplify, you can consider it as a method shared between instances, but it can be overriden in subclasses.

Sulthan
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  • +1 Thanks for the information. I was really confused about it. I thought for a second that, If *static method* would exist, I should have found it somewhere. Thanks again. – viral Apr 12 '13 at 08:37
  • +1 for the ruby reference. I think it helps to keep reminding people that it does not help to understanding Objective-C by placing it in company with Java, C++ and C#. It is easier to compare to python, ruby and smalltalk. – Erik Engheim May 21 '13 at 14:37