Hi Sridhar,
i dont think static variables are constants.coz constants are those whose values cannot be changed once they are assigned a value.
But, ofcourse final variables are constants.once final variables r intialized they can never be changed.
the diff is tht each instance of class has its own copy of final variables whereas static variables are associated with classes rather than with instances of classes.i.e. there exists only one copy of static variables and all the instances share the static variables.so,if u change the vlaue of the static varible of the first obj, then the value of the second obj will also be changed.
eg:
class Test{
final int i = 9;
static int j = 3;
public static void main(
String args[]){
Test t = new Test();
Test t1 = new Test();
t.i++; //illegal - u cannot change final value
t.j++;
System.out.println(t.j); // line 1
System.out.println(t1.j); // line 2
}
}
u can observe tht o/p of line 1 will be same as line 2 since j is declared as static.
Hope u got it.
vineela
