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static methods

Robin Thomas robin.thomas at starmedia.net
Sat Mar 24 13:11:43 EST 2001 
At 04:38 PM 3/24/01 +0000, you wrote:
>On Fri, 23 Mar 2001 16:51:10 -0500 (EST), Clark C. Evans 
><cce at clarkevans.com> wrote:
>
> >I was wondering if there is any rationale as to why
> >Python classes do not have static methods?
>
>What's a "static method?"  I assume it's some C++ contrivance?

In the simplest sense (C++ and Java), a static method is reached through 
the class, and not through instances of the class. Often used for factory 
or conversion functions, or to provide a procedural interface when 
instantiation would be a tedious formality. If there were a "static" 
keyword in Python:

class Pickler:

     def static loads(string):
         return Pickler().loads(string)

     def static dumps(object):
         return Pickler().dumps(object)

     def loads(self, string):
         # the instance method

     def dumps(self, object):
         # the instance method

That it's called "static" is an artifact of C, I believe. In C, "static" 
has been overexploited such that it has many different meanings in 
different contexts that have nothing to do with being "static". Hideous 
example: declaring a function as "static" in C means that it's invisible to 
code outside of the source file and to all code following it in the same 
file. :-0


--
Robin Thomas
Engineering
StarMedia Network, Inc.
robin.thomas at starmedia.net
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