Static Methods

Go Up to Dispatching Methods

All methods are static unless you specify otherwise when you declare them. Static methods work like regular procedures or functions. The compiler determines the exact address of the method and links the method at compile time.

The primary advantage of static methods is that dispatching them is very quick. Because the compiler can determine the exact address of the method, it links the method directly. Virtual and dynamic methods, by contrast, use indirect means to look up the address of their methods at run time, which takes somewhat longer.

A static method does not change when inherited by a descendent class. If you declare a class that includes a static method, then derive a new class from it, the derived class shares exactly the same method at the same address. This means that you cannot override static methods; a static method always does exactly the same thing no matter what class it is called in. If you declare a method in a derived class with the same name as a static method in the ancestor class, the new method simply replaces the inherited one in the derived class.