Python Static Methods

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn about Python static methods and how to use them to create a utility class.

Introduction to Python static methods

So far, you have learned about instance methods that are bound to a specific instance. It means that instance methods can access and modify the state of the bound object.

Also, you learned about class methods that are bound to a class. The class methods can access and modify the class state.

Unlike instance methods, static methods aren’t bound to an object. In other words, static methods cannot access and modify an object state.

In addition, Python doesn’t implicitly pass the cls parameter (or the self parameter) to static methods. Therefore, static methods cannot access and modify the class’s state.

In practice, you use static methods to define utility methods or group functions that have some logical relationships in a class.

To define a static method, you use the @staticmethod decorator:

class className:
    @staticmethod
    def static_method_name(param_list):
        passCode language: Python (python)

To call a static method, you use this syntax:

className.static_method_name()Code language: Python (python)

Python static methods vs class methods

Since static methods are quite similar to the class methods, you can use the following to find the differences between them:

Python static method examples

The following defines a class called TemperatureConverter that has static methods for converting temperatures between Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin:

class TemperatureConverter:
    KEVIN = 'K',
    FAHRENHEIT = 'F'
    CELSIUS = 'C'

    @staticmethod
    def celsius_to_fahrenheit(c):
        return 9*c/5 + 32

    @staticmethod
    def fahrenheit_to_celsius(f):
        return 5*(f-32)/9

    @staticmethod
    def celsius_to_kelvin(c):
        return c + 273.15

    @staticmethod
    def kelvin_to_celsius(k):
        return k - 273.15

    @staticmethod
    def fahrenheit_to_kelvin(f):
        return 5*(f+459.67)/9

    @staticmethod
    def kelvin_to_fahrenheit(k):
        return 9*k/5 - 459.67

    @staticmethod
    def format(value, unit):
        symbol = ''
        if unit == TemperatureConverter.FAHRENHEIT:
            symbol = '°F'
        elif unit == TemperatureConverter.CELSIUS:
            symbol = '°C'
        elif unit == TemperatureConverter.KEVIN:
            symbol = '°K'

        return f'{value}{symbol}'
Code language: Python (python)

And to call the TemperatureConverter class, you use the following:

f = TemperatureConverter.celsius_to_fahrenheit(35)
print(TemperatureConverter.format(f, TemperatureConverter.FAHRENHEIT))
Code language: Python (python)

Summary

• Use static methods to define utility methods or group a logically related functions into a class.
• Use the @staticmethod decorator to define a static method.