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Can "this" keyword be used within a static method? Explain with examples.

Revati S Misra23714-Apr-2023

Can "this" keyword be used within a static method? Explain with examples.

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Updated on 24-Apr-2023
Revati S Misra

Revati S Misra

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Sanjay Goenka

Sanjay Goenka

19-Apr-2023

In C#, the "this" keyword is used to refer to the current instance of a class. However, static methods do not have access to the current instance of a class, because they are not associated with any particular instance of the class. Therefore, you cannot use the "this" keyword within a static method to refer to the current instance of the class.


public class MyClass
{
  private static int count;
  public MyClass()
  {
      count++;
  }
  public static void PrintCount()
  {
      Console.WriteLine($"Count: {count}");
      // Can't use "this" keyword here, because "PrintCount" is a static method
  }
}
MyClass.PrintCount(); // Output: Count: 0
MyClass obj1 = new MyClass();
MyClass.PrintCount(); // Output: Count: 1
MyClass obj2 = new MyClass();
MyClass.PrintCount(); // Output: Count: 2

The static method "PrintCount" cannot use the "this" keyword to access the "count" field, which is a static field of the class. Instead, it accesses the static field directly using the class name "MyClass".
 

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