La palabra reservada 'static'

Sugerencia

Esta página describe el uso de la palabra reservada static para definir métodos y propiedades estáticos. static también se puede usar para definir variables estáticas y para enlaces estáticos en tiempo de ejecución. Por favor, consulte estas páginas para más información sobre estos significados de static.

Declarar propiedades o métodos de clases como estáticos los hacen accesibles sin la necesidad de instanciar la clase. Una propiedad declarada como static no puede ser accedida con un objeto de clase instanciado (aunque un método estático sí lo puede hacer).

Por motivos de compatibilidad con PHP 4, si no se utiliza ninguna declaración de visibilidad, se tratará a las propiedades o métodos como si hubiesen sido definidos como public.

Métodos estáticos

Debido a que los métodos estáticos se pueden invocar sin tener creada una instancia del objeto, la seudovariable $this no está disponible dentro de los métodos declarados como estáticos.

Precaución

En PHP 5, llamar a métodos no estáticos de forma estática genera una advertencia de nivel E_STRICT.

Advertencia

En PHP 7, llamar a métodos no estáticos de forma estática está obsoleto y generará una advertencia E_DEPRECATED. El soporte para las llamadas a métodos no estáticos de forma estática podría ser eliminado en el futuro.

Ejemplo #1 Ejemplo de método estático

<?php
class Foo {
public static function
unMetodoEstatico() {
// ...
}
}

Foo::unMetodoEstatico();
$nombre_clase = 'Foo';
$nombre_clase::unMetodoEstatico(); // A partir de PHP 5.3.0
?>

Propiedades estáticas

No se puede acceder a las propiedades estáticas a través del objeto utilizando el operador flecha (->).

Como cualquier otra variable estática de PHP, las propiedades estáticas sólo pueden ser inicializadas utilizando un string literal o una constante; las expresiones no están permitidas. Por tanto, se puede inicializar una propiedad estática con enteros o arrays (por ejemplo), pero no se puede hacer con otra variable, con el valor de devolución de una función, o con un objeto.

A partir de PHP 5.3.0, es posible hacer referencia a una clase usando una variable. El valor de la variable no puede ser una palabra reservada (p.ej., self, parent y static).

Ejemplo #2 Ejemplo de propiedad estática

<?php
class Foo
{
public static
$mi_static = 'foo';

public function
valorStatic() {
return
self::$mi_static;
}
}

class
Bar extends Foo
{
public function
fooStatic() {
return
parent::$mi_static;
}
}


print
Foo::$mi_static . "\n";

$foo = new Foo();
print
$foo->valorStatic() . "\n";
print
$foo->mi_static . "\n"; // "Propiedad" mi_static no definida

print $foo::$mi_static . "\n";
$nombreClase = 'Foo';
print
$nombreClase::$mi_static . "\n"; // A partir de PHP 5.3.0

print Bar::$mi_static . "\n";
$bar = new Bar();
print
$bar->fooStatic() . "\n";
?>
add a note

User Contributed Notes 21 notes

up
247
inkredibl
17 years ago
Note that you should read "Variables/Variable scope" if you are looking for static keyword use for declaring static variables inside functions (or methods). I myself had this gap in my PHP knowledge until recently and had to google to find this out. I think this page should have a "See also" link to static function variables.
http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.scope.php
up
160
payal001 at gmail dot com
13 years ago
Here statically accessed property prefer property of the class for which it is called. Where as self keyword enforces use of current class only. Refer the below example:

<?php
class a{

static protected
$test="class a";

public function
static_test(){

echo static::
$test; // Results class b
echo self::$test; // Results class a

}

}

class
b extends a{

static protected
$test="class b";

}

$obj = new b();
$obj->static_test();
?>
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36
artekpuck at gmail dot com
6 years ago
It is worth mentioning that there is only one value for each static variable that is the same for all instances
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14
Anonymous
19 years ago
You misunderstand the meaning of inheritance : there is no duplication of members when you inherit from a base class. Members are shared through inheritance, and can be accessed by derived classes according to visibility (public, protected, private).

The difference between static and non static members is only that a non static member is tied to an instance of a class although a static member is tied to the class, and not to a particular instance.
That is, a static member is shared by all instances of a class although a non static member exists for each instance of class.

Thus, in your example, the static property has the correct value, according to principles of object oriented conception.
class Base
{
public $a;
public static $b;
}

class Derived extends Base
{
public function __construct()
{
$this->a = 0;
parent::$b = 0;
}
public function f()
{
$this->a++;
parent::$b++;
}
}

$i1 = new Derived;
$i2 = new Derived;

$i1->f();
echo $i1->a, ' ', Derived::$b, "\n";
$i2->f();
echo $i2->a, ' ', Derived::$b, "\n";

outputs
1 1
1 2
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9
sideshowAnthony at googlemail dot com
9 years ago
The static keyword can still be used (in a non-oop way) inside a function. So if you need a value stored with your class, but it is very function specific, you can use this:

class aclass {
public static function b(){
static $d=12; // Set to 12 on first function call only
$d+=12;
return "$d\n";
}
}

echo aclass::b(); //24
echo aclass::b(); //36
echo aclass::b(); //48
echo aclass::$d; //fatal error
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10
Anonymous
11 years ago
It should be noted that in 'Example #2', you can also call a variably defined static method as follows:

<?php
class Foo {
public static function
aStaticMethod() {
// ...
}
}

$classname = 'Foo';
$methodname = 'aStaticMethod';
$classname::{$methodname}(); // As of PHP 5.3.0 I believe
?>
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12
vinayak dot anivase at gmail dot com
6 years ago
This is also possible:

class Foo {
public static $bar = 'a static property';
}

$baz = (new Foo)::$bar;
echo $baz;
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6
rahul dot anand77 at gmail dot com
9 years ago
To check if a method declared in a class is static or not, you can us following code. PHP5 has a Reflection Class, which is very helpful.

try {
$method = new ReflectionMethod( 'className::methodName );
if ( $method->isStatic() )
{
// Method is static.
}
}
catch ( ReflectionException $e )
{
// method does not exist
echo $e->getMessage();
}

*You can read more about Reflection class on http://php.net/manual/en/class.reflectionclass.php
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8
ASchmidt at Anamera dot net
6 years ago
It is important to understand the behavior of static properties in the context of class inheritance:

- Static properties defined in both parent and child classes will hold DISTINCT values for each class. Proper use of self:: vs. static:: are crucial inside of child methods to reference the intended static property.

- Static properties defined ONLY in the parent class will share a COMMON value.

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

class
staticparent {
static
$parent_only;
static
$both_distinct;

function
__construct() {
static::
$parent_only = 'fromparent';
static::
$both_distinct = 'fromparent';
}
}

class
staticchild extends staticparent {
static
$child_only;
static
$both_distinct;

function
__construct() {
static::
$parent_only = 'fromchild';
static::
$both_distinct = 'fromchild';
static::
$child_only = 'fromchild';
}
}

$a = new staticparent;
$a = new staticchild;

echo
'Parent: parent_only=', staticparent::$parent_only, ', both_distinct=', staticparent::$both_distinct, "<br/>\r\n";
echo
'Child: parent_only=', staticchild::$parent_only, ', both_distinct=', staticchild::$both_distinct, ', child_only=', staticchild::$child_only, "<br/>\r\n";
?>

will output:
Parent: parent_only=fromchild, both_distinct=fromparent
Child: parent_only=fromchild, both_distinct=fromchild, child_only=fromchild
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5
b1tchcakes
9 years ago
<?php

trait t {
protected
$p;
public function
testMe() {echo 'static:'.static::class. ' // self:'.self::class ."\n";}
}

class
a { use t; }
class
b extends a {}

echo (new
a)->testMe();
echo (new
b)->testMe();

outputs
static:a // self:t
static:b // self:t
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11
davidn at xnet dot co dot nz
15 years ago
Static variables are shared between sub classes

<?php
class MyParent {

protected static
$variable;
}

class
Child1 extends MyParent {

function
set() {

self::$variable = 2;
}
}

class
Child2 extends MyParent {

function
show() {

echo(
self::$variable);
}
}

$c1 = new Child1();
$c1->set();
$c2 = new Child2();
$c2->show(); // prints 2
?>
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11
aidan at php dot net
19 years ago
To check if a function was called statically or not, you'll need to do:

<?php
function foo () {
$isStatic = !(isset($this) && get_class($this) == __CLASS__);
}
?>

More at (http://blog.phpdoc.info/archives/4-Schizophrenic-Methods.html).

(I'll add this to the manual soon).
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12
webmaster at removethis dot weird-webdesign dot de
15 years ago
On PHP 5.2.x or previous you might run into problems initializing static variables in subclasses due to the lack of late static binding:

<?php
class A {
protected static
$a;

public static function
init($value) { self::$a = $value; }
public static function
getA() { return self::$a; }
}

class
B extends A {
protected static
$a; // redefine $a for own use

// inherit the init() method
public static function getA() { return self::$a; }
}

B::init('lala');
echo
'A::$a = '.A::getA().'; B::$a = '.B::getA();
?>

This will output:
A::$a = lala; B::$a =

If the init() method looks the same for (almost) all subclasses there should be no need to implement init() in every subclass and by that producing redundant code.

Solution 1:
Turn everything into non-static. BUT: This would produce redundant data on every object of the class.

Solution 2:
Turn static $a on class A into an array, use classnames of subclasses as indeces. By doing so you also don't have to redefine $a for the subclasses and the superclass' $a can be private.

Short example on a DataRecord class without error checking:

<?php
abstract class DataRecord {
private static
$db; // MySQLi-Connection, same for all subclasses
private static $table = array(); // Array of tables for subclasses

public static function init($classname, $table, $db = false) {
if (!(
$db === false)) self::$db = $db;
self::$table[$classname] = $table;
}

public static function
getDB() { return self::$db; }
public static function
getTable($classname) { return self::$table[$classname]; }
}

class
UserDataRecord extends DataRecord {
public static function
fetchFromDB() {
$result = parent::getDB()->query('select * from '.parent::getTable('UserDataRecord').';');

// and so on ...
return $result; // An array of UserDataRecord objects
}
}

$db = new MySQLi(...);
UserDataRecord::init('UserDataRecord', 'users', $db);
$users = UserDataRecord::fetchFromDB();
?>

I hope this helps some people who need to operate on PHP 5.2.x servers for some reason. Late static binding, of course, makes this workaround obsolete.
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6
tolean_dj at yahoo dot com
14 years ago
Starting with php 5.3 you can get use of new features of static keyword. Here's an example of abstract singleton class:

<?php

abstract class Singleton {

protected static
$_instance = NULL;

/**
* Prevent direct object creation
*/
final private function __construct() { }

/**
* Prevent object cloning
*/
final private function __clone() { }

/**
* Returns new or existing Singleton instance
* @return Singleton
*/
final public static function getInstance(){
if(
null !== static::$_instance){
return static::
$_instance;
}
static::
$_instance = new static();
return static::
$_instance;
}

}
?>
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5
ssj dot narutovash at gmail dot com
17 years ago
It's come to my attention that you cannot use a static member in an HEREDOC string. The following code

class A
{
public static $BLAH = "user";

function __construct()
{
echo <<<EOD
<h1>Hello {self::$BLAH}</h1>
EOD;
}
}

$blah = new A();

produces this in the source code:

<h1>Hello {self::}</h1>

Solution:

before using a static member, store it in a local variable, like so:

class B
{
public static $BLAH = "user";

function __construct()
{
$blah = self::$BLAH;
echo <<<EOD
<h1>Hello {$blah}</h1>
EOD;
}
}

and the output's source code will be:

<h1>Hello user</h1>
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6
gratcypalma at gmail dot om
13 years ago
<?php
class foo {
private static
$getInitial;

public static function
getInitial() {
if (
self::$getInitial == null)
self::$getInitial = new foo();
return
self::$getInitial;
}
}

foo::getInitial();

/*
this is the example to use new class with static method..
i hope it help
*/

?>
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2
Jay Cain
15 years ago
Regarding the initialization of complex static variables in a class, you can emulate a static constructor by creating a static function named something like init() and calling it immediately after the class definition.

<?php
class Example {
private static
$a = "Hello";
private static
$b;

public static function
init() {
self::$b = self::$a . " World!";
}
}
Example::init();
?>
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2
zerocool at gameinsde dot ru
16 years ago
Hi, here's my simple Singleton example, i think it can be useful for someone. You can use this pattern to connect to the database for example.

<?php

class MySingleton
{
private static
$instance = null;

private function
__construct()
{
$this-> name = 'Freddy';

}

public static function
getInstance()
{
if(
self::$instance == null)
{
print
"Object created!<br>";
self::$instance = new self;

}

return
self::$instance;

}

public function
sayHello()
{
print
"Hello my name is {$this-> name}!<br>";

}

public function
setName($name)
{
$this-> name = $name;

}

}

//

$objA = MySingleton::getInstance(); // Object created!

$objA-> sayHello(); // Hello my name is Freddy!

$objA-> setName("Alex");

$objA-> sayHello(); // Hello my name is Alex!

$objB = MySingleton::getInstance();

$objB-> sayHello(); // Hello my name is Alex!

$objB-> setName("Bob");

$objA-> sayHello(); // Hello my name is Bob!

?>
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1
manishpatel2280 at gmail dot com
11 years ago
In real world, we can say will use static method when we dont want to create object instance.

e.g ...

validateEmail($email) {
if(T) return true;
return false;
}

//This makes not much sense
$obj = new Validate();
$result = $obj->validateEmail($email);

//This makes more sense
$result = Validate::validateEmail($email);
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0
1998shivammishra167 at gmail dot com
17 days ago
//Difference Between self:: and static::

<?php
class A {
protected static
$name = "Class A";

public static function
getName() {
return
self::$name; // Uses class A's property
}

public static function
getNameStatic() {
return static::
$name; // Uses the property from the child class
}
}

class
B extends A {
protected static
$name = "Class B";
}

echo
B::getName(); // Output: Class A (Because of self::)
echo B::getNameStatic(); // Output: Class B (Because of static::)

?>
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2
michalf at ncac dot torun dot pl
19 years ago
Inheritance with the static elements is a nightmare in php. Consider the following code:

<?php
class BaseClass{
public static
$property;
}

class
DerivedClassOne extends BaseClass{
}

class
DerivedClassTwo extends BaseClass{
}

DerivedClassOne::$property = "foo";
DerivedClassTwo::$property = "bar";

echo
DerivedClassOne::$property; //one would naively expect "foo"...
?>

What would you expect as an output? "foo"? wrong. It is "bar"!!! Static variables are not inherited, they point to the BaseClass::$property.

At this point I think it is a big pity inheritance does not work in case of static variables/methods. Keep this in mind and save your time when debugging.

best regards - michal
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