Happy Coders

Static properties belong to the class itself rather than an instance. They’re declared with the static keyword and shared across all objects. Access them using ClassName::$property or self::$property inside the class. They’re ideal for shared values like counters, settings, or global state. Unlike normal properties, static ones persist independently of instances.

1. Basic Static Property Example

class Counter {
    public static $count = 0;

    public function increment() {
        self::$count++;
    }

    public function getCount() {
        return self::$count;
    }
}

$obj1 = new Counter();
$obj1->increment();

$obj2 = new Counter();
$obj2->increment();

echo $obj2->getCount(); // Output: 2 (shared between all objects)

File: static_property_basic.php

2. Accessing Static Property Without Object

class Settings {
    public static $appName = "MyApp";
}

echo Settings::$appName; // Output: MyApp

File: static_direct_access.php

3. Static Property in Inheritance

class ParentClass {
    protected static $message = "Hello from parent";
    
    public static function getMessage() {
        return static::$message;
    }
}

class ChildClass extends ParentClass {}

echo ChildClass::getMessage(); // Output: Hello from parent

File: static_inheritance_property.php

4. Key Rules of Static Properties