What are the pros/cons of choosing between static and instance data access classes in a web app?

Question

I\'ve read several other questions on this topic (here, here, and here), but have yet to see a great answer. I\'ve developed my fair share of data access layers before and perso

Answer 1

My general feeling is: Why instantiate if you don't have to?

I use static classes when there wont be any use for multiple instances and there isn't a need for instance members. As for the DAL, the point is that there is only one. Why instantiate it if there is no value in it?

Look at this link, which shows that static method calls are faster than instance class method calls.

This link shows that an advantage of using a static class is that the compiler can check to make sure that no instance members are accidentally added.

This link shows that a static class can be used as a convenient container for sets of methods that just operate on input parameters and do not have to get or set any internal instance fields. For a DAL, this is exactly what you have. There is no reason to create any internal instance fields, and therefore, no reason to instantiate.