Consider the following code snippet:

public class MyClass $\{$

private static int count $=0$;

public MyClass$()\{$

count$++$;

$\}$

public static int getcount$()\{$

return count;

$\}$

$\}$

What does the 'count' variable represent in the code?

a$.$ Number of instances created

b$.$ Iteration counter

c$.$ Class constant

d$.$ Total method calls