Java Notes | Singleton vs Static Class

Singleton vs Static Class
  • Singleton class has a single instance or object while static class is a bunch of static methods.
  • Singleton class can be extended (through an interface) while static class cannot be inherited.
  • Singleton methods can be overridden but not of static class.
  • Singleton objects are stored in heap but static objects are stored in stack.
  • Static method can call another static method simply by its name within the same class. 
  • Static method can call another non-static methods of same class only through class’ instance/object. Non-static methods can call static methods by Classname.method().

Note: When Java encounters a call to a method that is found within the object it is treated as a call to that object’s method. So isEmpty() in a method is equivalent to this.isEmpty().

Referencing a non-static method or field within a class is only an issue if code is written inside a static method. However, within non static methods, it poses no problem. Since an object is guaranteed to exist when code is ran. So explicitly creating an object is not required.

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