Python Static Methods Vs Class Method

In this article, we will learn about the difference between a static method and a class method in Python. We will use some built-in functions available in Python and some related custom examples as well. We will compare both methods with examples in this module. Let's first have a quick look over the term decorator, what is a static method, what is a class method, when to use these methods, and compare its working.

What is a Decorator in Python?

Before reading the differences between static and class methods, you must know what is a decorator in Python. Decorators are simple functions. The user can write them, or include them in Python standard library. Decorators are used for performing logical changes in the behavior of other functions. They are an excellent way to reuse code and can they help to separate logic into individual bits. Python provides decorators to define static and class methods.

Static Methods

Static methods are methods that are related to a class but do not need to access any class-specific data. There is no need to instantiate an instance because we can simply call this method. Static methods are great for utility functions. They are totally self-contained and only work with data passed in as arguments.

• This method is bound to the class but not to the object of the class.
• This method can not access or modify class state.
• This method is defined inside a class using @staticmethod decorator.
• It does not receive any implicit first argument, neither self nor cls.
• This method returns a static method of the function

Example: Static Methods

class static_example(object):
    
    #decorator
    @staticmethod
    def fun(arg1, arg2, ...):
        ...

Class Methods In Python

Class methods are methods that are related to a class and have access to all class-specific data. It uses @classmethod, a built-in function decorator that gets evaluated after the function is defined. It returns a class method function. It receives the cls parameter instead of self as the implicit first argument.

• This method is also bound to the class but not to the object of the class.
• This method can access the state of the class, therefore it can modify the class state that will be applicable to all the instances.
• This method is defined inside a class using @classmethod decorator.
• It takes cls as a parameter that points to the class and not to the instance of the object.

Example: Define Class Method

class class_example(object):
    
    #decorator
    @classmethod
    def func(cls, arg1, arg2, ...):
       ....

Working Example of Static and Class Methods

The below example shows how static and class methods work in a class. Class methods are used for factory purposes, that's why in the below code @classmethod details() is used to create a class object from a birth year instead of age. Static methods are utility functions and work on data provided to them in arguments.

from datetime import date
class Person:
    
    #class constructor
    def __init__(self, name, age):
        self.name = name
        self.age = age
    
    @classmethod
    def details(cls, name, year):
        return cls(name, date.today().year - year)
    
    @staticmethod
    def check_age(age):
        return age > 18


#Driver's code
person1 = Person('Mark', 20)
person2 = Person.details('Rohan', 1992)

print(person1.name, person1.age) 
print(person2.name, person2.age)
print(Person.check_age(25))

Mark 20
Rohan 29
True

Difference between a static method and a class method

Conclusion

In this article, we learned about decorators in Python, static methods, and class methods. We learned the working of both methods. We saw key differences between the two methods and how a class defines them.