public class StaticCounter {
    public static void main (String [] args) {
	System.out.println(CountingObject.getCount() + " objects created");

	CountingObject co = new CountingObject(5);
	System.out.println(CountingObject.getCount() + " objects created");

	CountingObject co1 = new CountingObject(3);
	System.out.println(co1.getCount() + " objects created");

	co1 = co;
	System.out.println(co1.getCount() + " objects created");

    }
    
}

class CountingObject {
    public int value;
    private static int howmany; // private var: not accessible from outside

    public CountingObject(int val) {
	value = val;
	++howmany;
    }

    // a static method:
    public static int getCount() {
	return howmany;
    }
    // what happens if getCount is not static?
}