Java: Calling a static method in the main() method

Question

I am supposed to do the following:

Write a Java application (Client) program with a static method called generateEmployees( ) that returns a random list

Answer 1

A static method is a class method, rather than an instance method. It's called on the class, not an instance of the class. The difference being that you can call a static method without having an instance first.

Employee.doSomething();

vs

Employee employee = new Employee();
employee.doSomethingElse();

So, if your generateEmployees() method is in the same class as your main, all you need is

 generateEmployees();

otherwise you'll need to do

 Employee.generateEmployees();

(if the Employee class contains generateEmployees()