Java inner class and static nested class

Question

What is the main difference between an inner class and a static nested class in Java? Does design / implementation play a role in choosing one of these?

Answer 1

Inner class and nested static class in Java both are classes declared inside another class, known as top level class in Java. In Java terminology, If you declare a nested class static, it will called nested static class in Java while non static nested class are simply referred as Inner Class.

What is Inner Class in Java?

Any class which is not a top level or declared inside another class is known as nested class and out of those nested classes, class which are declared non static are known as Inner class in Java. there are three kinds of Inner class in Java:

1) Local inner class - is declared inside a code block or method.
2) Anonymous inner class - is a class which doesn't have name to reference and initialized at same place where it gets created.
3) Member inner class - is declared as non static member of outer class.

public class InnerClassTest {
    public static void main(String args[]) {      
        //creating local inner class inside method i.e. main() 
        class Local {
            public void name() {
                System.out.println("Example of Local class in Java");

            }
        }      
        //creating instance of local inner class
        Local local = new Local();
        local.name(); //calling method from local inner class

        //Creating anonymous inner class in Java for implementing thread
        Thread anonymous = new Thread(){
            @Override
            public void run(){
                System.out.println("Anonymous class example in java");
            }
        };
        anonymous.start();

        //example of creating instance of inner class
        InnerClassTest test = new InnerClassTest();
        InnerClassTest.Inner inner = test.new Inner();
        inner.name(); //calling method of inner class
    }

     //Creating Inner class in Java
    private class Inner{
        public void name(){
            System.out.println("Inner class example in java");
        }
    }
}

What is nested static class in Java?

Nested static class is another class which is declared inside a class as member and made static. Nested static class is also declared as member of outer class and can be make private, public or protected like any other member. One of the main benefit of nested static class over inner class is that instance of nested static class is not attached to any enclosing instance of Outer class. You also don't need any instance of Outer class to create instance of nested static class in Java.

1) It can access static data members of outer class including private.
2) Static nested class cannot access non-static (instance) data member or method.

public class NestedStaticExample {
    public static void main(String args[]){  
        StaticNested nested = new StaticNested();
        nested.name();
    }  
    //static nested class in java
    private static class StaticNested{
        public void name(){
            System.out.println("static nested class example in java");
        }
    }
}

Ref: Inner class and nested Static Class in Java with Example

Answer 2

The difference is that a nested class declaration that is also static can be instantiated outside of the enclosing class.

When you have a nested class declaration that is not static, also known as an inner class, Java won't let you instantiate it except via the enclosing class. The object created out of the inner class is linked to the object created from the outer class, so the inner class can reference the fields of the outer.

But if it's static, then the link does not exist, the outer fields cannot be accessed (except via an ordinary reference like any other object) and you can therefore instantiate the nested class by itself.

Answer 3

I don't think the real difference became clear in the above answers.

First to get the terms right:

• A nested class is a class which is contained in another class at the source code level.
• It is static if you declare it with the static modifier.
• A non-static nested class is called inner class. (I stay with non-static nested class.)

Martin's answer is right so far. However, the actual question is: What is the purpose of declaring a nested class static or not?

You use static nested classes if you just want to keep your classes together if they belong topically together or if the nested class is exclusively used in the enclosing class. There is no semantic difference between a static nested class and every other class.

Non-static nested classes are a different beast. Similar to anonymous inner classes, such nested classes are actually closures. That means they capture their surrounding scope and their enclosing instance and make that accessible. Perhaps an example will clarify that. See this stub of a Container:

public class Container {
    public class Item{
        Object data;
        public Container getContainer(){
            return Container.this;
        }
        public Item(Object data) {
            super();
            this.data = data;
        }

    }

    public static Item create(Object data){
        // does not compile since no instance of Container is available
        return new Item(data);
    }
    public Item createSubItem(Object data){
        // compiles, since 'this' Container is available
        return new Item(data);
    }
}

In this case you want to have a reference from a child item to the parent container. Using a non-static nested class, this works without some work. You can access the enclosing instance of Container with the syntax Container.this.

More hardcore explanations following:

If you look at the Java bytecodes the compiler generates for an (non-static) nested class it might become even clearer:

// class version 49.0 (49)
// access flags 33
public class Container$Item {

  // compiled from: Container.java
  // access flags 1
  public INNERCLASS Container$Item Container Item

  // access flags 0
  Object data

  // access flags 4112
  final Container this$0

  // access flags 1
  public getContainer() : Container
   L0
    LINENUMBER 7 L0
    ALOAD 0: this
    GETFIELD Container$Item.this$0 : Container
    ARETURN
   L1
    LOCALVARIABLE this Container$Item L0 L1 0
    MAXSTACK = 1
    MAXLOCALS = 1

  // access flags 1
  public <init>(Container,Object) : void
   L0
    LINENUMBER 12 L0
    ALOAD 0: this
    ALOAD 1
    PUTFIELD Container$Item.this$0 : Container
   L1
    LINENUMBER 10 L1
    ALOAD 0: this
    INVOKESPECIAL Object.<init>() : void
   L2
    LINENUMBER 11 L2
    ALOAD 0: this
    ALOAD 2: data
    PUTFIELD Container$Item.data : Object
    RETURN
   L3
    LOCALVARIABLE this Container$Item L0 L3 0
    LOCALVARIABLE data Object L0 L3 2
    MAXSTACK = 2
    MAXLOCALS = 3
}

As you can see the compiler creates a hidden field Container this$0. This is set in the constructor which has an additional parameter of type Container to specify the enclosing instance. You can't see this parameter in the source but the compiler implicitly generates it for a nested class.

Martin's example

OuterClass.InnerClass innerObject = outerObject.new InnerClass();

would so be compiled to a call of something like (in bytecodes)

new InnerClass(outerObject)

For the sake of completeness:

An anonymous class is a perfect example of a non-static nested class which just has no name associated with it and can't be referenced later.

Answer 4

I think that none of the above answers explain to you the real difference between a nested class and a static nested class in term of application design :

OverView

A nested class could be nonstatic or static and in each case is a class defined within another class. A nested class should exist only to serve is enclosing class, if a nested class is useful by other classes (not only the enclosing), should be declared as a top level class.

Difference

Nonstatic Nested class : is implicitly associated with the enclosing instance of the containing class, this means that it is possible to invoke methods and access variables of the enclosing instance. One common use of a nonstatic nested class is to define an Adapter class.

Static Nested Class : can't access enclosing class instance and invoke methods on it, so should be used when the nested class doesn't require access to an instance of the enclosing class . A common use of static nested class is to implement a components of the outer object.

Conclusion

So the main difference between the two from a design standpoint is : nonstatic nested class can access instance of the container class, while static can't.

Answer 5

In the case of creating instance, the instance of non static inner class is created with the reference of object of outer class in which it is defined. This means it have inclosing instance. But the instance of static inner class is created with the reference of Outer class, not with the reference of object of outer class. This means it have not inclosing instance.

For example:

class A
{
  class B
  {
    // static int x; not allowed here…..    
  }
  static class C
  {
    static int x; // allowed here
  }
}

class Test
{
  public static void main(String… str)
  {
    A o=new A();
    A.B obj1 =o.new B();//need of inclosing instance

    A.C obj2 =new A.C();

    // not need of reference of object of outer class….
  }
}

Answer 6

I have illustrated various possible correct and error scenario which can occur in java code.

    class Outter1 {

        String OutStr;

        Outter1(String str) {
            OutStr = str;
        }

        public void NonStaticMethod(String st)  {

            String temp1 = "ashish";
            final String  tempFinal1 = "ashish"; 

            //  below static attribute not permitted
            // static String tempStatic1 = "static";    

            //  below static with final attribute not permitted         
            // static final String  tempStatic1 = "ashish";  

            // synchronized keyword is not permitted below          
            class localInnerNonStatic1 {            

                synchronized    public void innerMethod(String str11) {
                    str11 = temp1 +" sharma";
                    System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
                }

                /* 
        //  static method with final not permitted
          public static void innerStaticMethod(String str11) { 

                    str11 = temp1 +" india";
                    System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
                }*/
            }

            // static class not permitted below
            //  static class localInnerStatic1 {   }                            

        }

        public static  void StaticMethod(String st)     {

            String temp1 = "ashish";
            final String  tempFinal1 = "ashish"; 

            // static attribute not permitted below
            //static String tempStatic1 = "static";     

            //  static with final attribute not permitted below
            // static final String  tempStatic1 = "ashish";                         

            class localInnerNonStatic1 {
                public void innerMethod(String str11) {
                    str11 = temp1 +" sharma";
                    System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
                }

                /*
    // static method with final not permitted
    public static void innerStaticMethod(String str11) {  
                    str11 = temp1 +" india";
                    System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
                }*/
            }

            // static class not permitted below
            //  static class localInnerStatic1 {   }    

        }

        // synchronized keyword is not permitted
        static  class inner1 {          

            static String  temp1 = "ashish";
            String  tempNonStatic = "ashish";
            // class localInner1 {

            public void innerMethod(String str11) {
                str11 = temp1 +" sharma";
                str11 = str11+ tempNonStatic +" sharma";
                System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
            }

            public static void innerStaticMethod(String str11) {
                //  error in below step
                str11 = temp1 +" india";    
                //str11 = str11+ tempNonStatic +" sharma";
                System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
            }
            //}
        }

        //synchronized keyword is not permitted below
        class innerNonStatic1 {             

//This is important we have to keep final with static modifier in non
// static innerclass below
            static final String  temp1 = "ashish";  
            String  tempNonStatic = "ashish";
            // class localInner1 {

            synchronized    public void innerMethod(String str11) {
                tempNonStatic = tempNonStatic +" ...";
                str11 = temp1 +" sharma";
                str11 = str11+ tempNonStatic +" sharma";
                System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
            }

            /*
            //  error in below step
            public static void innerStaticMethod(String str11) {   
                            //  error in below step
                            // str11 = tempNonStatic +" india";                     
                            str11 = temp1 +" india";
                            System.out.println("innerMethod ===> "+str11);
                        }*/
                    //}
                }
    }