In
object-oriented programming, a
member variable (sometimes called a
member field) is a
variable that is associated with a specific object, and accessible for all its
methods (
member functions). In
class-based languages, these are distinguished into two types: if there is only one copy of the variable shared with all instances of the class, it is called a
class variable or static member variable; while if each instance of the class has its own copy of the variable, the variable is called an
instance variable.