Static variables and forward reference

[Larry Olson]

static
{
     X = 1; //1
}
private static int X; //2

In the code snippet above, how come X could be referred in the static block, even though it is only declared afterwards? I thought all static code is executed sequentially from top to bottom. How does the compiler know about X at //1 ?

Thanks.

[Ankit Garg]

You can forward reference variables to assign value to them. You cannot forward reference to read their values. So your code is legal but this code would not be legal

static
{
     int a = X; //error, cannot read X's value
}
private static int X;