Static class

[Kashif Nazar]

Hi, I have some confusion related to static class. I have read in a book that

A static nested class is not an inner class, it's a top-level nested class.

but we code it like this...

   class BigOuter {
static class Nested { }
}

 

Nested is defined within BitOuter, then how can one say that it is not an inner class.

[Sebastian Janisch]

Because it shares absolutely no relationship with it's enclosing class. It is treated (instantiated) as if it was a top level class.

[Ryan Beckett]

They don't consider it an inner class because inner classes share a "special" relationship with its outer class, because you need a live instance to instantiate it, whereas with a static class you don't. It's scope is nested but its access it top-level.

class Outer {
class Inner {}
}

Outer.Inner in = new Outer().new Inner();

class Outer {
static class Inner {}
}

Outer.Inner in = new Outer.Inner();

[salvin francis]

Defination:


What is an inner class ?

A Non Static Nested class is known as an inner class.

[Himanshu Kansal]

A static inner class cannot be an inner class in its true meaning because an inner class would closely relate, have a special relationship, to the instances of the outer class created; and it is evident that static has nothing to do with instances in particular.

[Muhammad Khojaye]

quote from Effective Java

Each instance of a nonstatic member class is implicitly associated with an
enclosing instance of its containing class. Within instance methods of a
nonstatic member class, you can invoke methods on the enclosing instance
or obtain a reference to the enclosing instance using the qualified this construct

A static nested class does not have access to the enclosing instance.

[Himanshu Kansal]

Muhammad Ali Khojaye wrote:quote from Effective Java

Each instance of a nonstatic member class is implicitly associated with an
enclosing instance of its containing class. Within instance methods of a
nonstatic member class, you can invoke methods on the enclosing instance
or obtain a reference to the enclosing instance using the qualified this construct

A static nested class does not have access to the enclosing instance.

That would indeed be the most appropriate explanation.