Hi I'm looking at the code of Joomla and trying to figure out what exactly happends in this function. index.php makes a call to function $app = JFactory::getApplication('site'); jfactory.php code public static function getApplication($id = null, $config = array(), $prefix='J') { if (!self::$application) { jimport('joomla.application.application'); self::$application = JApplication::getInstance($id, $config, $prefix); } return self::$application; } application.php code.. public static function getInstance($client, $config = array(), $prefix = 'J') { static $instances; if (!isset($instances)) { $instances = array(); } ....... more code ........ return $instances[$client]; } Now I cannot figure out in function getApplication why is self:$application used. self::$application = JApplication::getInstance($id, $config, $prefix); $application is always null, what is the purpose of using this approach. I tryied modifying it to $var = JApplication::getInstance($id, $config, $prefix); and returnig it but it doesn't work. I would be very glad if someone with more knowledge could explain what is happening here detailed as possible. Many thanks.