Tôi đã làm một số thí nghiệm trong sân chơi và có một số kết luận.
TL; DR

Như bạn có thể thấy, trong trường hợp class, việc sử dụng class funchoặc static funcchỉ là một câu hỏi về thói quen.
Ví dụ sân chơi với lời giải thích:
class Dog {
final func identity() -> String {
return "Once a woofer, forever a woofer!"
}
class func talk() -> String {
return "Woof woof!"
}
static func eat() -> String {
return "Miam miam"
}
func sleep() -> String {
return "Zzz"
}
}
class Bulldog: Dog {
// Can not override a final function
// override final func identity() -> String {
// return "I'm once a dog but now I'm a cat"
// }
// Can not override a "class func", but redeclare is ok
func talk() -> String {
return "I'm a bulldog, and I don't woof."
}
// Same as "class func"
func eat() -> String {
return "I'm a bulldog, and I don't eat."
}
// Normal function can be overridden
override func sleep() -> String {
return "I'm a bulldog, and I don't sleep."
}
}
let dog = Dog()
let bullDog = Bulldog()
// FINAL FUNC
//print(Dog.identity()) // compile error
print(dog.identity()) // print "Once a woofer, forever a woofer!"
//print(Bulldog.identity()) // compile error
print(bullDog.identity()) // print "Once a woofer, forever a woofer!"
// => "final func" is just a "normal" one but prevented to be overridden nor redeclared by subclasses.
// CLASS FUNC
print(Dog.talk()) // print "Woof woof!", called directly from class
//print(dog.talk()) // compile error cause "class func" is meant to be called directly from class, not an instance.
print(Bulldog.talk()) // print "Woof woof!" cause it's called from Bulldog class, not bullDog instance.
print(bullDog.talk()) // print "I'm a bulldog, and I don't woof." cause talk() is redeclared and it's called from bullDig instance
// => "class func" is like a "static" one, must be called directly from class or subclassed, can be redeclared but NOT meant to be overridden.
// STATIC FUNC
print(Dog.eat()) // print "Miam miam"
//print(dog.eat()) // compile error cause "static func" is type method
print(Bulldog.eat()) // print "Miam miam"
print(bullDog.eat()) // print "I'm a bulldog, and I don't eat."
// NORMAL FUNC
//print(Dog.sleep()) // compile error
print(dog.sleep()) // print "Zzz"
//print(Bulldog.sleep()) // compile error
print(bullDog.sleep()) // print "I'm a bulldog, and I don't sleep."