Dave wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi,
> Is there a general rule to use 'static' on a class member? It seems
> uneccessary to have to create an instance of an object just to use it's
> methods where declaring something as static makes more sense.[/color]
Instance methods are instance methods because they rely on the state of
the specific object instance. Instance methods are tied to a particular
instance because the behavior that the method invokes relies upon the
state of that particular instance.
When you declare a method as static, you define that method as being a
class method. A class method applies to the class as opposed to any
particular instance. The behavior instigated by a class method does not
rely on the state of a particular instance. In fact, a static method
cannot rely on an instance's state since static methods lack access to
this reference. Instead, the behavior of a class method either depends
on a state that all objects share at the class level, or is independent
of any state at all.
If a method relies on an object instance's state it should be an
instance methods. If a method is general for all or no instances of a
class, and does not rely on the object state, it should be a static method.
Instance methods are most commonly used. However static methods are very
useful for utility and factory classes amogst many other uses.
Anders Norås
http://dotnetjunkies.com/weblog/anoras/ 
