In object-oriented programming with classes, a class variable is a variable defined in a class (i.e. a member variable) of which a single copy exists, regardless of how many instances of the class exist.
A class variable is not an instance variable. It is a special type of class attribute (or class property, field, or data member).
In Java, C#, and C++, class variables are declared with the keyword static, and may therefore be referred to as static member variables.
The same dichotomy between instance and class members applies to methods ("member functions") as well; a class may have both instance methods and class methods. Again, Java, C#, and C++ use the keyword static to indicate that a method is a class method ("static member function").
Read more about Class Variable: Example
Famous quotes containing the words class and/or variable:
“We of the sinking middle class ... may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong, and probably when we get there it will not be so dreadful as we feared, for, after all, we have nothing to lose but our aitches.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“There is not so variable a thing in nature as a lady’s head-dress.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)