<s>
In	O
class-based	B-Application
,	O
object-oriented	B-Language
programming	I-Language
,	O
a	O
class	B-Application
variable	I-Application
is	O
a	O
variable	O
defined	O
in	O
a	O
class	O
of	O
which	O
a	O
single	O
copy	O
exists	O
,	O
regardless	O
of	O
how	O
many	O
instances	O
of	O
the	O
class	O
exist	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
class	B-Application
variable	I-Application
is	O
not	O
an	O
instance	B-Application
variable	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
special	O
type	O
of	O
class	O
attribute	O
(	O
or	O
class	O
property	O
,	O
field	B-Application
,	O
or	O
data	B-Application
member	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
same	O
dichotomy	O
between	O
instance	O
and	O
class	O
members	O
applies	O
to	O
methods	O
(	O
"	O
member	O
functions	O
"	O
)	O
as	O
well	O
;	O
a	O
class	O
may	O
have	O
both	O
instance	B-Language
methods	I-Language
and	O
class	B-Application
methods	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
languages	O
,	O
class	B-Application
variables	I-Application
and	O
class	B-Application
methods	I-Application
are	O
either	O
statically	O
resolved	O
,	O
not	O
via	O
dynamic	O
dispatch	O
,	O
or	O
their	O
memory	O
statically	B-General_Concept
allocated	I-General_Concept
at	O
compile	O
time	O
(	O
once	O
for	O
the	O
entire	O
class	O
,	O
as	O
static	B-General_Concept
variables	I-General_Concept
)	O
,	O
not	O
dynamically	O
allocated	O
at	O
run	O
time	O
(	O
at	O
every	O
instantiation	O
of	O
an	O
object	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
if	O
classes	O
can	O
be	O
dynamically	O
defined	O
(	O
at	O
run	O
time	O
)	O
,	O
class	B-Application
variables	I-Application
of	O
these	O
classes	O
are	O
allocated	O
dynamically	O
when	O
the	O
class	O
is	O
defined	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
some	O
languages	O
class	B-Application
methods	I-Application
are	O
also	O
dispatched	O
dynamically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
in	O
some	O
languages	O
,	O
static	O
member	O
variable	O
or	O
static	O
member	O
function	O
are	O
used	O
synonymously	O
with	O
or	O
in	O
place	O
of	O
"	O
class	B-Application
variable	I-Application
"	O
or	O
"	O
class	O
function	O
"	O
,	O
but	O
these	O
are	O
not	O
synonymous	O
across	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
terms	O
are	O
commonly	O
used	O
in	O
Java	B-Language
,	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
and	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
where	O
class	B-Application
variables	I-Application
and	O
class	B-Application
methods	I-Application
are	O
declared	O
with	O
the	O
static	O
keyword	O
,	O
and	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
static	O
member	O
variables	O
or	O
static	O
member	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
C++	B-Language
example	O
,	O
the	O
class	B-Application
variable	I-Application
Request::count	O
is	O
incremented	O
on	O
each	O
call	O
to	O
the	O
constructor	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
Request::count	O
always	O
holds	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
Requests	O
that	O
have	O
been	O
constructed	O
,	O
and	O
each	O
new	O
Request	O
object	O
is	O
given	O
a	O
number	O
in	O
sequential	O
order	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
count	O
is	O
a	O
class	B-Application
variable	I-Application
,	O
there	O
is	O
only	O
one	O
object	O
Request::count	O
;	O
in	O
contrast	O
,	O
each	O
Request	O
object	O
contains	O
its	O
own	O
distinct	O
number	O
field	B-Application
.	O
</s>
