Re: Why can't i declare a static variable in a static method?

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:45:58 GMT, Jim Korman <jkorman@alltel.net>
wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
 


 
It would behave exactly like a private static. It would be
initialised to 0/null. However, it would be declared in a method, and
any references to it outside that method would be illegal, detected an
compile time.
 
You would use it for example in
 
void myMethod ()
 {
 static Random wheel;
 // first use init.
 if( wheel == null ) wheel = new Random();
 
 for (int i=0;i<100;i++)
  {
 System.out.println( wheel.nextInt( 6 ) );
 }
}
 
You are declaring that wheel is purely for the use of myMethod, but
other than that in is like a private static.
 
To allow one-time initialisation would get fairly hairy. That is why I
side-stepped the issue. Perhaps inability to init is a reasonably
easily defined way is why Sun did not allow this. It would be a wart
no matter how it was handled.
 
Another syntax would be something like this where you declare outside
the method.
 
private to myMethod static Random wheel = new Random();
 
you could also have private instance methods too:
 
private to myMethod Random wheel = new Random();