4 Class Fields

Define: Class Field

A class field is a variable, property or method of a class which can either be static or non-static. Non-static fields are referred to as member fields, so we speak of e.g. a static method or a member variable.

So far we have seen how types and Haxe programs, in general, are structured. This section about class fields concludes the structural part and at the same time bridges to the behavioral part of Haxe. This is because class fields are the place where expressions are at home.

There are three kinds of class fields:

• Variable: A variable class field holds a value of a certain type, which can be read or written.
• Property: A property class field defines a custom access behavior for something that, outside the class, looks like a variable field.
• Method: A method is a function which can be called to execute code.

Strictly speaking, a variable could be considered to be a property with certain access modifiers. Indeed, the Haxe Compiler does not distinguish variables and properties during its typing phase, but they remain separated at the syntax level.

Regarding terminology, a method is a (static or non-static) function belonging to a class. Other functions, such as a local functions in expressions, are not considered methods.

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