Class Method Vs Static Method in Python

Class Method Vs Static Method in Python 

In Python, both class methods and static methods are methods that are bound to a class rather than an instance of the class, but they have different behaviors.

A class method is a method that takes the class as its first parameter instead of the instance of the class. It is defined using the @classmethod decorator. Class methods are used when you need to access or modify class-level data or behavior, but you don't need to access or modify instance-level data. For example:

class MyClass: class_var = 0 @classmethod def class_method(cls, x): cls.class_var += x print(f"class_var = {cls.class_var}")

In the example above, we define a class method class_method() using the @classmethod decorator. The first parameter of the method is cls, which refers to the class itself, not an instance of the class. Inside the method, we access the class variable class_var using cls.class_var, and modify its value by adding the argument x.

We can call the class_method() using the class name, like this:

MyClass.class_method(1) # Output: class_var = 1

A static method is a method that does not take the class or instance as its first parameter. It is defined using the @staticmethod decorator. Static methods are used when you need to define a method that belongs to the class, but does not access any class-level or instance-level data. For example:

class MyClass: @staticmethod def static_method(y): print(f"y = {y}")

In the example above, we define a static method static_method() using the @staticmethod decorator. The method does not access any class-level or instance-level data, so we don't need to pass in the class or instance as a parameter.

We can call the static_method() using the class name or an instance of the class, like this:

MyClass.static_method(2) # Output: y = 2 obj = MyClass() obj.static_method(3) # Output: y = 3

Note that although we can call a static method using an instance of the class, the instance is not passed as a parameter to the method, and the method does not have access to any instance-level data.

Happy Learning!! Happy Coding!!