Static Methods

What is Python Static Method?

In Python, a static method is a type of method that does not require any instance to be called. It is very similar to the class method but the difference is that the static method doesn’t have a mandatory argument like reference to the object − self or reference to the class − cls.

Static methods are used to access static fields of a given class. They cannot modify the state of a class since they are bound to the class, not instance.

How to Create Static Method in Python?

There are two ways to create Python static methods −

• Using staticmethod() Function
• Using @staticmethod Decorator

Learn Python in-depth with real-world projects through our Python certification course. Enroll and become a certified expert to boost your career.

Using staticmethod() Function

Python’s standard library function named staticmethod() is used to create a static method. It accepts a method as an argument and converts it into a static method.

Syntax

staticmethod(method)

Example

In the Employee class below, the showcount() method is converted into a static method. This static method can now be called by its object or reference of class itself.

Open Compiler

classEmployee:
   empCount =0def__init__(self, name, age):
      self.__name = name
      self.__age = age
      Employee.empCount +=1# creating staticmethoddefshowcount():print(Employee.empCount)return
   counter =staticmethod(showcount)

e1 = Employee("Bhavana",24)
e2 = Employee("Rajesh",26)
e3 = Employee("John",27)

e1.counter()
Employee.counter()

Executing the above code will print the following result −

3
3

Using @staticmethod Decorator

The second way to create a static method is by using the Python @staticmethod decorator. When we use this decorator with a method it indicates to the Interpreter that the specified method is static.

Syntax

@staticmethoddefmethod_name():# your code

Example

In the following example, we are creating a static method using the @staticmethod decorator.

Open Compiler

classStudent:
   stdCount =0def__init__(self, name, age):
      self.__name = name
      self.__age = age
      Student.stdCount +=1# creating staticmethod@staticmethoddefshowcount():print(Student.stdCount)

e1 = Student("Bhavana",24)
e2 = Student("Rajesh",26)
e3 = Student("John",27)print("Number of Students:")
Student.showcount()

Running the above code will print the following result −

Number of Students:
3

Advantages of Static Method

There are several advantages of using static method, which includes −

• Since a static method cannot access class attributes, it can be used as a utility function to perform frequently re-used tasks.
• We can invoke this method using the class name. Hence, it eliminates the dependency on the instances.
• A static method is always predictable as its behavior remain unchanged regardless of the class state.
• We can declare a method as a static method to prevent overriding.