Editing Java syntax (section)

====Static import declaration====
{{Main|Static import}}

This type of declaration has been available since [[J2SE 5.0]]. [[static imports|Static import]] declarations allow access to static members defined in another class, interface, annotation, or enum; without specifying the class name:

<syntaxhighlight lang="java">
import static java.lang.System.out; //'out' is a static field in java.lang.System

public class HelloWorld {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        /* The following line is equivalent to
             System.out.println("Hi World!");
           and would have been incorrect without the import declaration. */
        out.println("Hello World!");
    }
}
</syntaxhighlight>

Import-on-demand declarations allow to import all the fields of the type:

<syntaxhighlight lang="java">
import static java.lang.System.*;
    /* This form of declaration makes all
       fields in the java.lang.System class available by name, and may be used instead
       of the import declaration in the previous example. */
</syntaxhighlight>

Enum constants may also be used with static import. For example, this enum is in the package called <code>screen</code>:

<syntaxhighlight lang="java">
public enum ColorName {
    RED, BLUE, GREEN
};
</syntaxhighlight>

It is possible to use static import declarations in another class to retrieve the enum constants:

<syntaxhighlight lang="java">
import screen.ColorName;
import static screen.ColorName.*;

public class Dots {
    /* The following line is equivalent to 'ColorName foo = ColorName.RED',
       and it would have been incorrect without the static import. */
    ColorName foo = RED;

    void shift() {
        /* The following line is equivalent to
           if (foo == ColorName.RED) foo = ColorName.BLUE; */
        if (foo == RED) foo = BLUE;
    }
}
</syntaxhighlight>