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Static Import - Java

Java includes a feature called static import that expands the capabilities of the import keyword.

Static Import

 

Java includes a feature called static import that expands the capabilities of the import keyword. By following import with the keyword static, an import statement can be used to import the static members of a class or interface. When using static import, it is possible to refer to static members directly by their names, without having to qualify them with the name of their class. This simplifies and shortens the syntax required to use a static member.

 

To understand the usefulness of static import, let’s begin with an example that does not use it. The following program computes the hypotenuse of a right triangle. It uses two static methods from Java’s built-in math class Math, which is part of java.lang. The first is Math.pow( ), which returns a value raised to a specified power. The second is Math.sqrt( ), which returns the square root of its argument.

 

// Compute the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

class Hypot {

 

public static void main(String args[]) {

double side1, side2;

double hypot; side1 = 3.0;

side2 = 4.0;

 

     //Notice how sqrt() and pow() must be qualified by their class name, which is Math.

 

hypot = Math.sqrt(Math.pow(side1, 2) + Math.pow(side2, 2));

 

System.out.println("Given sides of lengths " + side1 + " and " + side2 +

 

" the hypotenuse is " + hypot);

 

}

 

}

 

Because pow( ) and sqrt( ) are static methods, they must be called through the use of their class’ name, Math. This results in a somewhat unwieldy hypotenuse calculation:

 

hypot = Math.sqrt(Math.pow(side1, 2) + Math.pow(side2, 2));

 

As this simple example illustrates, having to specify the class name each time pow( ) or sqrt( ) (or any of Java’s other math methods, such as sin( ), cos( ), and tan( )) is used can grow tedious.

 

You can eliminate the tedium of specifying the class name through the use of static import, as shown in the following version of the preceding program:

 

     //Use static import to bring sqrt() and pow() into view.

      

     import static java.lang.Math.sqrt;

 

import static java.lang.Math.pow;

 

     //Compute the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

 

class Hypot {

 

public static void main(String args[]) {

double side1, side2;

 

double hypot;

 

side1 = 3.0; side2 = 4.0;

 

     //Here, sqrt() and pow() can be called by themselves, without their class name.

 

hypot = sqrt(pow(side1, 2) + pow(side2, 2));

 

System.out.println("Given sides of lengths " + side1 + " and " + side2 +

 

" the hypotenuse is " + hypot);

 

}

 

}

In this version, the names sqrt and pow are brought into view by these static import statements:

 

import static java.lang.Math.sqrt;

import static java.lang.Math.pow;

 

After these statements, it is no longer necessary to qualify sqrt( ) or pow( ) with their class name. Therefore, the hypotenuse calculation can more conveniently be specified, as shown here:

 

 

hypot = sqrt(pow(side1, 2) + pow(side2, 2));

 

As you can see, this form is considerably more readable.

 

There are two general forms of the import static statement. The first, which is used by the preceding example, brings into view a single name. Its general form is shown here:

 

import static pkg.type-name.static-member-name;

 

Here, type-name is the name of a class or interface that contains the desired static member. Its full package name is specified by pkg. The name of the member is specified by static-member-name.

 

The second form of static import imports all static members of a given class or interface. Its general form is shown here:

 

import static pkg.type-name.*;

 

If you will be using many static methods or fields defined by a class, then this form lets you bring them into view without having to specify each individually. Therefore, the preceding program could have used this single import statement to bring both pow( ) and sqrt( ) (and all other static members of Math ) into view:

 

import static java.lang.Math.*;

 

Of course, static import is not limited just to the Math class or just to methods. For example, this brings the static field System.out into view:

 

import static java.lang.System.out;

 

After this statement, you can output to the console without having to qualify out with System, as shown here:

 

out.println("After importing System.out, you can use out directly.");

 

Whether importing System.out as just shown is a good idea is subject to debate. Although it does shorten the statement, it is no longer instantly clear to anyone reading the program that the out being referred to is System.out.

 

One other point: in addition to importing the static members of classes and interfaces defined by the Java API, you can also use static import to import the static members of classes and interfaces that you create.

As convenient as static import can be, it is important not to abuse it. Remember, the reason that Java organizes its libraries into packages is to avoid namespace collisions. When you import static members, you are bringing those members into the global namespace. Thus, you are increasing the potential for namespace conflicts and for the inadvertent hiding of other names. If you are using a static member once or twice in the program,

 

it’s best not to import it. Also, some static names, such as System.out, are so recognizable that you might not want to import them. Static import is designed for those situations in which you are using a static member repeatedly, such as when performing a series of mathematical computations. In essence, you should use, but not abuse, this feature.

 

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