constuctor concept

[ppavya india]

Hi all,
I am new to java technology. Could anyone explain me the concept of contructor, its use, with appropriate example.
Thanx in advance.

[Arnaud Burlet]

Constructors are not only a concept of the java technology, this is a concept of Object Oriented Programming (OOP).

Do you need an intro to OOP ? or just an intro of how it works in java ?

class test {
  int i;
 
  // this is the constructor
  // it is called when new object of class test are created before anyone can use that object
  // we can perform initialisation tasks in the constructor
  public test() { 
    System.out.println("Initializing a new test object");
    // do more init stuffs here
    i = 23;
  }
  // you can pass arguments to constructors
  public test(int i) {
    System.out.println("Initializing a new test object with i set to : " + i);
    this.i = i;
  }
  
  static void main( String[] args) {
    // when we create a object of type test, the constructor is called
    test test1 = new test();
    test test2 = new test(12);
  }
}

[edit : basic corrections]
[ October 14, 2004: Message edited by: Arnaud Burlet ]