Only one copy of a static member of a class is created, regardless of how many instances (objects) of that class are instantiated. This single copy is shared among all objects of the class. Unlike non-static members, which have separate copies for each object, the static member exists at the class level and is not tied to any particular instance
. For example, if you declare a static variable inside a class, such as a counter to track the number of objects created, that static variable is incremented in the constructor but only one copy of it exists for the entire class. All instances access this same static variable
. In summary:
- Static members are class-wide, not instance-specific.
- Only one copy of a static member exists in memory.
- All objects of the class share this single copy.
- Static members are accessed using the class name, not object references.
This behavior allows static members to be useful for data or functions that should be common to all instances of a class, such as counting how many objects have been created
