Objective C static class variables

You declare the static variable in the implementation file (.m file). This should work:

// TheClass.h
@interface TheClass : NSObject
+ (int)count;
@end

// TheClass.m
static int theCount = 0;

@implementation TheClass
+ (int) count { return theCount; }
@end

It’s not a class variable per se; Objective-C has no notion of a class variable. However, coupled with the class method for retrieving this variable, it functions similarly to a class variable. However, it’s really just a C static variable that’s accessible by the class’s implementation.