Hi ...
Digging through
The Java Programming Language: 2nd Edition by Ken Arnold and James Gosling turns up the following definitions:
Nested classes and interfaces - members of another class or interface. You can declare them to be accessible any way you like.
Static nested class - simplest form of a nested class. Acts just like any top-level class except that it's name and accessiblity are defined by the enclosing class.
A footnote on static nested classes reads:
Static nested classes are formally called "top-level nested classes". Although useful in formal contexts, the term is also oxymoronoic and hence confusing so we do not use it in this book.
non-static nested classes are called
inner classes They go on to state: Inner classes cannot have static members.
Since the following compiles without any errors:
and based on the wording in the text, think,
static nested class is probably the clearest term vs 'static inner class' which according to the rules is impossible.