What are static method and variables?

Question

Can someone give an easily comprehensible definition of a static variable and a static method?

How do these compare to non-static variables and methods?

Answer 1

In Java, static denotes class methods and class variables (as opposed to instance methods and instance variables). These methods and variables can be accessed without an instance present.

Contrast this to instance methods and instance variables: they must be accessed through an object. For example, length() operates on an object:

String a = "hello";
int len = a.length();

In contrast, valueOf cannot operate on an object; moreover, it creates a new object when called:

String x = String.valueOf(123.45);

Note how instance methods are called using <objectName> followed by a dot ., while static methods are accessed using <className> followed by a dot ..