You will often see Java programs that have either static or public attributes and methods.
In the example above, we created a static method, which means that it can be accessed without creating an object of the class, unlike public, which can only be accessed by objects:
Example
An example to demonstrate the differences between static and public methods:
public class Main {
// Static method
static void myStaticMethod() {
System.out.println("Static methods can be called without creating objects");
}
// Public method
public void myPublicMethod() {
System.out.println("Public methods must be called by creating objects");
}
// Main method
public static void main(String[] args) {
myStaticMethod(); // Call the static method
// myPublicMethod(); This would compile an error
Main myObj = new Main(); // Create an object of Main
myObj.myPublicMethod(); // Call the public method on the object
}
}
Note: You will learn more about these keywords (called modifiers) in the Java Modifiers chapter.
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