Static Initialization Sequence

[Yan Bai]

class StaticInit
{ 
     static int p=abc();        //1
     static public int abc() 
     { 
        int i=123; 
        System.out.println(p);  //2
        return i; 
     } 
     public static void main(String arg[])
     {
     }
} 

It compiles and prints out '0'. Isn't it a forward reference at line 2 since p is not complete its initialization yet?
Thanks for your explanation.

[Ron Newman]

p starts out with its default value (0). Line 2 is not a "forward reference" because it comes after line 1 in the source code.

[Yan Bai]

Originally posted by Ron Newman:
p starts out with its default value (0). Line 2 is not a "forward reference" because it comes after line 1 in the source code.

Thanks Ron. So how about final static variables, will they get a default value also? The following works, but does this mean that the value of final static variable can be changed?

[Ron Newman]

It is indeed possible for a supposedly "final" static variable to change its value this way. I modified your code to the following:

class StaticInit
{ 
     static final int p=abc();        //1
     static public int abc() 
     { 
        int i=123; 
        System.out.println(p);  //2
        return i; 
     } 
     public static void main(String arg[])
     {
         System.out.println(p);
     }
} 

which prints out:
0
123
I'd like to see the compiler generate a warning for cases like this, but it doesn't.
[ October 31, 2002: Message edited by: Ron Newman ]