Instance Block vs Constructor!

[Arun C. Giridharan]

Can anyone say the difference between Instance block and constructor.....they bothr use to intialize .....see the following code

class Hello
{
static int i=1;
int j;
static {
System.out.println("inside static block");
System.out.println(i);
//System.out.println(j);
}
{

j=3; i=67;
System.out.println("inside instance block");
System.out.println(j);
System.out.println(i);
}
public static void m1()
{
System.out.println("Inside static method");
System.out.println(i);

}
void m2()
{
System.out.println("inside instance method");
System.out.println("i");
System.out.println("j");
}
Hello()
	{
	System.out.println("***>inside constructor");

	}
	public void finalize()
{
System.out.println("inside finalize");
}
}
class Demo
{
public static void main(String args[])
{

System.out.println("---->"+Hello.i);
Hello a=new Hello();
System.out.println("---->"+a.i+"---->"+a.j);a=null;

System.gc();

}
}

....actually constructor is used to instialize the value 0 ...for instance variables right!...as in above example wen value is intialized through instance block ...in constructor those must (instance variable)...must again set back to 0...right! .....javascript:emoticon('');

EDIT: Code Tags - JD

[Janeice DelVecchio]

Welcome to JavaRanch!

Try to remember to use code tags when you post.... it will help folks to read what you've posted

Since you're new, and I'm incredibly handy, I'll go ahead and add them for you

[Campbell Ritchie]

By "instance block" I presume you mean "instance initializer". A constructor can have parameters passed to it, and is probably a better way to initialise the values so as to establish the class invariant. Have look at the Java™ Language specification about initializers and constructors (1) and maybe (2).