What is a static method in Java?

Static methods in Java are methods that belong to a class rather than an object. They can be called directly using the class name, without needing to create an instance of the class. Static methods are available as soon as the class is loaded and can be used without creating an object.

Static methods have the following characteristics:

1. Static methods belong to a class and not to an object. Therefore, static methods cannot directly access non-static member variables and non-static methods, only static member variables and static methods.
2. Static methods can be called directly using the class name, without the need to create an instance of the class.
3. Static methods cannot be overridden by subclasses, but they can be hidden by subclasses. This means that if a subclass defines a static method with the same name as a static method in the parent class, the subclass’s static method will hide the parent class’s static method.
4. Static methods can access and modify static member variables, but cannot access and modify non-static member variables.
5. You can’t use the “this” keyword in a static method because it represents the current object, and static methods do not belong to any object.

Static methods are commonly used for implementing utility classes, providing common helper methods, or when there is no need to access instance variables.