SOLVED: Static properties and methods

@gaspar-d

Feb '21

https://www.hackingwithswift.com/sixty/7/11/static-properties-and-methods

In this specific lesson in the example inside the init() the property 'name' uses 'self.name' as he is part of the struct.

Then why the property 'classSize' uses the name of the struct?

Didn't get why I can't just use only classSize or 'self.classSize'.

struct Student {
    static var classSize = 0
    var name: String

    init(name: String) {
        self.name = name
        Student.classSize += 1
    }
}

@roosterboy HWS+

Feb '21

It's because classSize is a static property, meaning it belongs to the type not to any given instance of that type.

name is an instance property, meaning each Student you create has its own name property. Since self here refers to a given instance of Student, you access this property with self.name.

classSize is a static property, meaning every instance of Student that you create shares the same classSize property. Since this property doesn't belong to any one instance of Student but rather to the type itself, you access it through the type name, i.e. Student.classSize.

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