FAQ: Static Variables and Methods - Static Variables

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This community-built FAQ covers the “Static Variables” exercise from the lesson “Static Variables and Methods”.

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FAQs on the exercise Static Variables

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[cloud9489179084]

Hello. And what is the difference between “final” and “const”? As I understand, both we cant change…

[israelias]

It depends on your definition of const as a keyword vs the general notion of Constant as a “fixed and unchanging” value/type.

Loosely, high-level (forgetting syntactic differentials across Dart to the C langs to JS etc. and object immutability as a whole), here’s a super reductive scenario:

“const” and “final” are different in their degree of “fixedness” at compile-time vs runtime. A const variable needs be initialized with a value at compile-time. On the other hand, a declared final variable does not need to have a value at compile-time. “x” in final x; is technically mutable until setX(_x) at runtime…

Please read:

Why The Const Keyword Is Not Implemented in Java

What is the difference between the const and final keywords in dart

ES6 const is not immutable

What is the difference between final variable and constant in Java

[maxtr3]

Hey guys, just a quick question to make sure I understood the purpose of those variables correctly.

Basically, I’d declare a static variable whenever I’d like all objects in a specific class to share the same value (at least at the time of creating an object in that class)?

[janbazant1107978602]

Yes, a static variable would be shared by the objects of that class.
Or you could use the class itself, without making an instance, to access a static variable (but it may need to be public if its from outside the class).

[maxtr3]

Thanks a lot that explanation was very helpful!