#695 – Static Methods Can Access Static Members

A static method can only access static members in the class that it’s defined in.

(If you pass an instance of an object to a static method, it can invoke instance members on that object).

    public class Dog
    {
        // Instance properties
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public int Age { get; set; }

        // Instance constructor
        public Dog(string name, int age)
        {
            Name = name;
            Age = age;
        }

        // Instance method
        public void Bark()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} says WOOF", Name);
        }

        // Static property
        public static string DogMotto { get; protected set; }

        // Static constructor
        static Dog()
        {
            DogMotto = "Serve humans";
        }

        // Static method
        public static void AboutDogs()
        {
            // Accessing static data
            Console.WriteLine("Dogs believe: {0}", DogMotto);

            // ERROR: Can't access instance property
            Console.WriteLine(Name);

            // ERROR: Can't call instance method
            Bark();
        }
    }

Trying to access instance methods or data from a static member will generate a compile-time error.