[java] What does the "static" modifier after "import" mean?

When used like this:

import static com.showboy.Myclass;

public class Anotherclass{}

what's the difference between import static com.showboy.Myclass and import com.showboy.Myclass?

Say you have static fields and methods inside a class called MyClass inside a package called myPackage and you want to access them directly by typing myStaticField or myStaticMethod without typing each time MyClass.myStaticField or MyClass.myStaticMethod.

Note : you need to do an import myPackage.MyClass or myPackage.* for accessing the other resources

The static modifier after import is for retrieving/using static fields of a class. One area in which I use import static is for retrieving constants from a class. We can also apply import static on static methods. Make sure to type import static because static import is wrong.

What is static import in Java - JavaRevisited - A very good resource to know more about import static.

There is no difference between those two imports you state. You can, however, use the static import to allow unqualified access to static members of other classes. Where I used to have to do this:

import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
      .
      .
      .
if (StringUtils.isBlank(aString)) {
      .
      .
      .

I can do this:

import static org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils.isBlank;
      .
      .
      .
if (isBlank(aString)) {
      .
      .
      .

You can see more in the documentation.

The basic idea of static import is that whenever you are using a static class,a static variable or an enum,you can import them and save yourself from some typing.

I will elaborate my point with example.

import java.lang.Math;

class WithoutStaticImports {

 public static void main(String [] args) {
  System.out.println("round " + Math.round(1032.897));
  System.out.println("min " + Math.min(60,102));
 }
}

Same code, with static imports:

import static java.lang.System.out;
import static java.lang.Math.*;

class WithStaticImports {
  public static void main(String [] args) {
    out.println("round " + round(1032.897));
    out.println("min " + min(60,102));
  }
}

Note: static import can make your code confusing to read.

Very good exaple. npt tipical with MAth in wwww....

https://www.java2novice.com/java-fundamentals/static-import/

public class MyStaticMembClass {
 
    public static final int INCREMENT = 2;
     
    public static int incrementNumber(int number){
        return number+INCREMENT;
    }
}

in onother file inlude

import static com.java2novice.stat.imp.pac1.MyStaticMembClass.*;

Static import is used to import static fields / method of a class instead of:

package test;

import org.example.Foo;

class A {

 B b = Foo.B_INSTANCE;

}

You can write :

package test;

import static org.example.Foo.B_INSTANCE;

class A {

 B b = B_INSTANCE;

}

It is useful if you are often used a constant from another class in your code and if the static import is not ambiguous.

Btw, in your example "import static org.example.Myclass;" won't work : import is for class, import static is for static members of a class.

The import allows the java programmer to access classes of a package without package qualification.

The static import feature allows to access the static members of a class without the class qualification.

The import provides accessibility to classes and interface whereas static import provides accessibility to static members of the class.

Example :

With import

import java.lang.System.*;    
class StaticImportExample{  
    public static void main(String args[]){  

       System.out.println("Hello");
       System.out.println("Java");  

  }   
} 

With static import

import static java.lang.System.*;    
class StaticImportExample{  
  public static void main(String args[]){  

   out.println("Hello");//Now no need of System.out  
   out.println("Java");  

 }   
} 

See also : What is static import in Java 5

the difference between "import static com.showboy.Myclass" and "import com.showboy.Myclass"?

The first should generate a compiler error since the static import only works for importing fields or member types. (assuming MyClass is not an inner class or member from showboy)

I think you meant

import static com.showboy.MyClass.*;

which makes all static fields and members from MyClass available in the actual compilation unit without having to qualify them... as explained above