staticmethod() Function in Python

Previous Page
Next Page

Python staticmethod() Function

In Python, the staticmethod() function is a built-in method that allows you to create a static method within a class. Static methods are methods that belong to the class rather than instances of the class. They do not require access to instance-specific data and behave like regular functions, except they are defined within a class's namespace.

To define a static method, you use the @staticmethod decorator before the method definition. Here's the basic syntax:

class MyClass:
    @staticmethod
    def static_method_name(arguments):
        # method implementation

Key points to note about static methods:

  • They do not have access to the instance (self) or the class (cls) and are independent of instance-specific data.

  • They can be called directly on the class itself, without creating an instance of the class.

  • Static methods cannot modify the state of the class or its instances because they lack access to instance-specific data.

  • You can use a static method to group utility functions related to the class, but that do not need access to instance data.

Here's an example to demonstrate the use of a static method:

class MathOperations:
    @staticmethod
    def add(a, b):
        return a + b

    @staticmethod
    def multiply(a, b):
        return a * b

# Calling static methods without creating instances
result_add = MathOperations.add(5, 3)
print(result_add)  # Output: 8

result_multiply = MathOperations.multiply(5, 3)
print(result_multiply)  # Output: 15

In this example, we defined a MathOperations class with two static methods, add() and multiply(). We can directly call these methods on the class itself without instantiating the class. The static methods perform basic mathematical operations without relying on any instance-specific data.

Previous Page
Next Page