Constructor

[shiva shankar]

Hi all,
When I am calling a constructor within a constructor, why is it that I need to call using this(). Why can't I use the same name as that of class when I am overloading the constructor.
Regds
Shiva

[Donald R. Cossitt]

My guess is that to use MyClass( name ) is trying to say we want a 'new' object not use a constructor. While the keyword this() is saying a constructor of 'this' class.

public class MyClass
{
    private String name ;
    private String rank ;
        
    MyClass()
    {
        name = "" ;
    }
    
    MyClass( String name )
    {
        this.name = name ;
    }
    
    MyClass( String name , String rank )
    {
        MyClass myName = new MyClass( name ) ;  //  new object MyClass( name ) ;
        
        this.name = myName.getName() ;
        this.rank = rank ;
    }
  /*does the same thing as above only cheaper
    and less confusing
    MyClass( String name , String rank )
    {
        this( name ) ;  //  call to this.constructor
        this.rank = rank ;
    }
  */
    public String getName()
    {
        return name ;
    }
    
    public String getRank()
    {
        return rank ;
    }
    
    public String toString()
    {
        return name + " is of " + rank + " stature." ;
    }
}

Is this clear as mud?

[John Lee]

hi:
please refer to:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/api/java/lang/reflect/Constructor.html