Variable Summary

So here is a chart summarizing what we've learned so far about variables;

Variable	Where Declared	Where Stored	Lifetime	Scope	Use
Local Var.	Method Body	Run-time stack	Duration of same method	Declaration -> end of enclosing block	Intermediate value used in method
Method Parameter	Method declaration	Run-time stack	Duration of same method	Entire body of same method	Transmit value into method
Instance Var.	Class definition	Object	Lifetime of object	private: All methods in class public: Package that contains class, packages that have access to this package	Store property of object
Static Var.	Class definition	Static space	Duration of program	private: All methods in class public: Package that contains class, packages that have access to this package	Store property of class as a whole

So local variables and method parameters are quite similar; they really only differ in where they are declared, and the extent of their scope. Instance variables and static variables are similar in that they are both declared in class definitions. However, because one is stored with each instantiated object in object space and the other with the class definition in static space, the first can have many versions (one for each object) and the second refers to some property of the class as a whole.