[c#] What is the use of static variable in C#? When to use it? Why can't I declare the static variable inside method?

In response to the "when to use it?" question:

I often use a static (class) variable to assign a unique instance ID to every instance of a class. I use the same code in every class, it is very simple:

//Instance ID ----------------------------------------
    // Class variable holding the last assigned IID
    private static int xID = 0;
    // Lock to make threadsafe (can omit if single-threaded)
    private static object xIDLock = new object();
    // Private class method to return the next unique IID 
    //  - accessible only to instances of the class
    private static int NextIID()                    
    {
        lock (xIDLock) { return ++xID; }
    }
    // Public class method to report the last IID used 
    // (i.e. the number of instances created)
    public static int LastIID() { return xID; }
    // Instance readonly property containing the unique instance ID
    public readonly int IID = NextIID();
//-----------------------------------------------------

This illustrates a couple of points about static variables and methods:

  1. Static variables and methods are associated with the class, not any specific instance of the class.
  2. A static method can be called in the constructor of an instance - in this case, the static method NextIID is used to initialize the readonly property IID, which is the unique ID for this instance.

I find this useful because I develop applications in which swarms of objects are used and it is good to be able to track how many have been created, and to track/query individual instances.

I also use class variables to track things like totals and averages of properties of the instances which can be reported in real time. I think the class is a good place to keep summary information about all the instances of the class.