The static keyword has some similar effects in C and Java, but the differences can be confusing.

• persistence: In both C and Java, values of function-scope variables declared static, persist from one function call to the next.
• sharing: In C the values are not shared with other running instances of the application, as they are with Java.
• initialization: C variables declared static are initialized to zero. (Non-static variables declared without explicit initializers contain trash.)
• association: The static keyword of Java associates a method or variable to its class, rather than class instances.

  The C static restricts the scope of a function or variable to code within the same file.