What are the differences between static class methods and regular object methods?

A static method of a class in Python is a method that does not automatically take either the class instance (self) or the class itself (cls) as the first argument. It is defined using the @staticmethod decorator. Such a method does not depend on the state of a specific object or class and is usually used for functions that are logically related to the class but do not require access to its data.

A regular object method takes self as the first argument — a reference to the current instance of the class. Through self, the method can access the attributes and other methods of the object.

Example:

class MyClass:
    @staticmethod
    def static_method(x, y):
        return x + y

    def instance_method(self, x):
        return x * 2

obj = MyClass()
print(MyClass.static_method(3, 4))  # 7
print(obj.instance_method(5))       # 10

Summary:

• Static methods do not have access to self or cls.
• Regular methods work with a specific instance via self.
• Static methods are used for utility functions within the class.