Why am I getting a static reference error and how do I fix it?

[SLDenman]

I am getting the "Cannot make a static reference to the non-static method add(Component) from the type Container" error on the last line where I am adding the Welcome label. Why and how do I fix it?

//import statements
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

//class header with extends JPanel
public class LoanComparison extends JPanel
{

	/**
	 * 
	 */
	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
	/**
	 * 
	 */
	static JPanel mainPanel, centerPanel, bottomPanel;
	static JLabel Welcome, loanAmount, years, rate, monthlypayment, totalpayment;
	static JTextField loanTextField;

	public static void main (String[]args)
	{

	//declare instance variables
	int years, balance;
	double loanAmount= 0, rate=0, monthlyrate=0, monthlypayment=0, totalpayment=0;
	
	//do following inside constructor method

		//set inherited Panel to BorderLayout
		//from here onwards, I will reference to this panel as main panel
		mainPanel.setLayout (new BorderLayout());
		JFrame frame= new JFrame("Comparing Loans");
		frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
		
		//set preferred size for the main panel
		mainPanel.setLayout (new GridLayout (1,2,5,10));
		
		//create a label to display welcome message
		//add the above label to the main panel
		JLabel Welcome = new JLabel ("Welcome to Compairing Loans Application");
		add (Welcome);

[code green]

Looks like add() is a class method, therefore the class object must be referenced to access add()

[Dheeraj Joshi]

add is not a static method. So you need to access it using the object.

objname.method();

Regards
Dheeraj Joshi

[javabeginner1]

Thanks

thank u sorted my headache :))
pweee..
cheers very helpful