Answer #1:

Maybe a bit of example code will help: Notice the difference in the call signatures of foo, class_foo and static_foo:

class A(object):
    def foo(self, x):
        print "executing foo(%s, %s)" % (self, x)
    @classmethod
    def class_foo(cls, x):
        print "executing class_foo(%s, %s)" % (cls, x)
    @staticmethod
    def static_foo(x):
        print "executing static_foo(%s)" % x
a = A()

Below is the usual way an object instance calls a method. The object instance, a, is implicitly passed as the first argument.

a.foo(1)
# executing foo(<__main__.A object at 0xb7dbef0c>,1)

With classmethods, the class of the object instance is implicitly passed as the first argument instead of self.

a.class_foo(1)
# executing class_foo(<class '__main__.A'>,1)

You can also call class_foo using the class. In fact, if you define something to be
a classmethod, it is probably because you intend to call it from the class rather than from a class instance. A.foo(1) would have raised a TypeError, but A.class_foo(1) works just fine:

A.class_foo(1)
# executing class_foo(<class '__main__.A'>,1)

One use people have found for class methods is to create inheritable alternative constructors.

With staticmethods, neither self (the object instance) nor cls (the class) is implicitly passed as the first argument. They behave like plain functions except that you can call them from an instance or the class:

a.static_foo(1)
# executing static_foo(1)
A.static_foo('hi')
# executing static_foo(hi)

Staticmethods are used to group functions which have some logical connection with a class to the class.

foo is just a function, but when you call a.foo you don’t just get the function,
you get a “partially applied” version of the function with the object instance a bound as the first argument to the function. foo expects 2 arguments, while a.foo only expects 1 argument.

a is bound to foo. That is what is meant by the term “bound” below:

print(a.foo)
# <bound method A.foo of <__main__.A object at 0xb7d52f0c>>

With a.class_foo, a is not bound to class_foo, rather the class A is bound to class_foo.

print(a.class_foo)
# <bound method type.class_foo of <class '__main__.A'>>

Here, with a staticmethod, even though it is a method, a.static_foo just returns
a good ‘ole function with no arguments bound. static_foo expects 1 argument, and
a.static_foo expects 1 argument too.

print(a.static_foo)
# <function static_foo at 0xb7d479cc>

And of course the same thing happens when you call static_foo with the class A instead.

print(A.static_foo)
# <function static_foo at 0xb7d479cc>

Answer #2:

A staticmethod is a method that knows nothing about the class or instance it was called on. It just gets the arguments that were passed, no implicit first argument. It is basically useless in Python — you can just use a module function instead of a staticmethod.

A classmethod, on the other hand, is a method that gets passed the class it was called on, or the class of the instance it was called on, as first argument. This is useful when you want the method to be a factory for the class: since it gets the actual class it was called on as first argument, you can always instantiate the right class, even when subclasses are involved. Observe for instance how dict.fromkeys(), a classmethod, returns an instance of the subclass when called on a subclass:

>>> class DictSubclass(dict):
...     def __repr__(self):
...         return "DictSubclass"
... 
>>> dict.fromkeys("abc")
{'a': None, 'c': None, 'b': None}
>>> DictSubclass.fromkeys("abc")
DictSubclass
>>> 

Answer #3:

Basically @classmethod makes a method whose first argument is the class it’s called from (rather than the class instance), @staticmethod does not have any implicit arguments.

Answer #4:

Official python docs:

@classmethod

A class method receives the class as
implicit first argument, just like an
instance method receives the instance.
To declare a class method, use this
idiom:

class C:
    @classmethod
    def f(cls, arg1, arg2, ...): ...

The @classmethod form is a function
decorator – see the description of
function definitions in Function
definitions for details.

It can be called either on the class
(such as C.f()) or on an instance
(such as C().f()). The instance is
ignored except for its class. If a
class method is called for a derived
class, the derived class object is
passed as the implied first argument.

Class methods are different than C++
or Java static methods. If you want
those, see staticmethod() in this
section.

@staticmethod

A static method does not receive an
implicit first argument. To declare a
static method, use this idiom:

class C:
    @staticmethod
    def f(arg1, arg2, ...): ...

The @staticmethod form is a function
decorator – see the description of
function definitions in Function
definitions for details.

It can be called either on the class
(such as C.f()) or on an instance
(such as C().f()). The instance is
ignored except for its class.

Static methods in Python are similar
to those found in Java or C++. For a
more advanced concept, see
classmethod() in this section.

Answer #5:

Here is a short article on this question

@staticmethod function is nothing more than a function defined inside a class. It is callable without instantiating the class first. It’s definition is immutable via inheritance.

@classmethod function also callable without instantiating the class, but its definition follows Sub class, not Parent class, via inheritance. That’s because the first argument for @classmethod function must always be cls (class).

Answer #6:

To decide whether to use @staticmethod or @classmethod you have to look inside your method. If your method accesses other variables/methods in your class then use @classmethod. On the other hand, if your method does not touches any other parts of the class then use @staticmethod.

class Apple:
    _counter = 0
    @staticmethod
    def about_apple():
        print('Apple is good for you.')
        # note you can still access other member of the class
        # but you have to use the class instance 
        # which is not very nice, because you have repeat yourself
        # 
        # For example:
        # @staticmethod
        #    print('Number of apples have been juiced: %s' % Apple._counter)
        #
        # @classmethod
        #    print('Number of apples have been juiced: %s' % cls._counter)
        #
        #    @classmethod is especially useful when you move your function to other class,
        #       you don't have to rename the class reference 
    @classmethod
    def make_apple_juice(cls, number_of_apples):
        print('Make juice:')
        for i in range(number_of_apples):
            cls._juice_this(i)
    @classmethod
    def _juice_this(cls, apple):
        print('Juicing %d...' % apple)
        cls._counter += 1

Answer #7:

What is the difference between @staticmethod and @classmethod in Python?

You may have seen Python code like this pseudocode, which demonstrates the signatures of the various method types and provides a docstring to explain each:

class Foo(object):
    def a_normal_instance_method(self, arg_1, kwarg_2=None):
        '''
        Return a value that is a function of the instance with its
        attributes, and other arguments such as arg_1 and kwarg2
        '''
    @staticmethod
    def a_static_method(arg_0):
        '''
        Return a value that is a function of arg_0. It does not know the
        instance or class it is called from.
        '''
    @classmethod
    def a_class_method(cls, arg1):
        '''
        Return a value that is a function of the class and other arguments.
        respects subclassing, it is called with the class it is called from.
        '''

The Normal Instance Method

First I’ll explain a_normal_instance_method. This is precisely called an “instance method“. When an instance method is used, it is used as a partial function (as opposed to a total function, defined for all values when viewed in source code) that is, when used, the first of the arguments is predefined as the instance of the object, with all of its given attributes. It has the instance of the object bound to it, and it must be called from an instance of the object. Typically, it will access various attributes of the instance.

For example, this is an instance of a string:

', '

if we use the instance method, join on this string, to join another iterable,
it quite obviously is a function of the instance, in addition to being a function of the iterable list, ['a', 'b', 'c']:

>>> ', '.join(['a', 'b', 'c'])
'a, b, c'

Bound methods

Instance methods can be bound via a dotted lookup for use later.

For example, this binds the str.join method to the ':' instance:

>>> join_with_colons = ':'.join

And later we can use this as a function that already has the first argument bound to it. In this way, it works like a partial function on the instance:

>>> join_with_colons('abcde')
'a:b:c:d:e'
>>> join_with_colons(['FF', 'FF', 'FF', 'FF', 'FF', 'FF'])
'FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF'

Static Method

The static method does not take the instance as an argument.

It is very similar to a module level function.

However, a module level function must live in the module and be specially imported to other places where it is used.

If it is attached to the object, however, it will follow the object conveniently through importing and inheritance as well.

An example of a static method is str.maketrans, moved from the string module in Python 3. It makes a translation table suitable for consumption by str.translate. It does seem rather silly when used from an instance of a string, as demonstrated below, but importing the function from the string module is rather clumsy, and it’s nice to be able to call it from the class, as in str.maketrans

# demonstrate same function whether called from instance or not:
>>> ', '.maketrans('ABC', 'abc')
{65: 97, 66: 98, 67: 99}
>>> str.maketrans('ABC', 'abc')
{65: 97, 66: 98, 67: 99}

In python 2, you have to import this function from the increasingly less useful string module:

>>> import string
>>> 'ABCDEFG'.translate(string.maketrans('ABC', 'abc'))
'abcDEFG'

Class Method

A class method is a similar to an instance method in that it takes an implicit first argument, but instead of taking the instance, it takes the class. Frequently these are used as alternative constructors for better semantic usage and it will support inheritance.

The most canonical example of a builtin classmethod is dict.fromkeys. It is used as an alternative constructor of dict, (well suited for when you know what your keys are and want a default value for them.)

>>> dict.fromkeys(['a', 'b', 'c'])
{'c': None, 'b': None, 'a': None}

When we subclass dict, we can use the same constructor, which creates an instance of the subclass.

>>> class MyDict(dict): 'A dict subclass, use to demo classmethods'
>>> md = MyDict.fromkeys(['a', 'b', 'c'])
>>> md
{'a': None, 'c': None, 'b': None}
>>> type(md)
<class '__main__.MyDict'>

See the pandas source code for other similar examples of alternative constructors, and see also the official Python documentation on classmethod and staticmethod.

Answer #8:

I started learning programming language with C++ and then Java and then Python and so this question bothered me a lot as well, until I understood the simple usage of each.

Class Method: Python unlike Java and C++ doesn’t have constructor overloading. And so to achieve this you could use classmethod. Following example will explain this

Let’s consider we have a Person class which takes two arguments first_name and last_name and creates the instance of Person.

class Person(object):
    def __init__(self, first_name, last_name):
        self.first_name = first_name
        self.last_name = last_name

Now, if the requirement comes where you need to create a class using a single name only, just a first_name, you can’t do something like this in Python.

This will give you an error when you will try to create an object (instance).

class Person(object):
    def __init__(self, first_name, last_name):
        self.first_name = first_name
        self.last_name = last_name
    def __init__(self, first_name):
        self.first_name = first_name

However, you could achieve the same thing using @classmethod as mentioned below

class Person(object):
    def __init__(self, first_name, last_name):
        self.first_name = first_name
        self.last_name = last_name
    @classmethod
    def get_person(cls, first_name):
        return cls(first_name, "")

Static Method: This is rather simple, it’s not bound to instance or class and you can simply call that using class name.

So let’s say in above example you need a validation that first_name should not exceed 20 characters, you can simply do this.

@staticmethod  
def validate_name(name):
    return len(name) <= 20

and you could simply call using class name

Person.validate_name("Gaurang Shah")