Objective C - static variables

Question

I don't quite understand static variables when defined in the implementation of an interface. In methods I do understand how they differ from local variables, but not when defined directly in an implementation.

Look at these examples. What difference do these two make practically?

#include "MyClass.h"

@implementation MyClass
int myInt;
...
@end

And:

#include "MyClass.h"

@implementation MyClass
static int myInt;
...
@end

myInt is in both cases visible to all the methods, and if I interpreted a test I ran correctly, myInt will in both cases be the same variable for different instances of the class.

Answer 1

The 'static' keyword in that context is the same as it would be in plain C: it limits the scope of myInt to the current file.