Personally, I think the use of static classes is fine, should not cause any load issues, should not slow down your application in any noticeable way.
So to answer your original question, IMHO, it is fine.
On the other issues raised, personally I still cannot see the point of it in the example you gave. The majority of my time by far is spent planning, problem solving for best UI experience and debugging (head scratching usually), not typing. That is not to say syntax is not important, but syntax is the least of my problems. The other big one, is sharing code with other developers. This normally means me taking the working prototype or first draft, and refactoring code to be cleaner, more easily maintained, clearer naming of functions, tables, etc. Often a hardcoded shortcut following a change in the UI means messy code, which is fine when you are first writing it, but 6 months later can become a nightmare.
I am getting better at doing a lot of this in the first build, but customers change their mind all the time. Often meaning a fundamental cornerstone of the build plan is changed. They just do not understand that an apparently little change can have a massive affect. Like "Actually, now we have thought about it, customers should have access to multiple accounts with different pricing plans".
However, static methods are not something I really employ, but following your post it has certainly made me rethink that. Perhaps I have overlooked how useful static classes can actually be. I will definitely be thinking about them in the next build.
Thank you.
Paul.
