Which is the first line of a constructor declaration?

[shoeb sattar]

I came across this question in Khalid Mogul's book, its seems simple but sparked a heated argument among my friends.can some one throw some light on the issue. the exact question was:
Which is the first line of a constructor declaration in the following code?

public class Counter { // (1)
int current, step;
public Counter(int startValue, int stepValue) { // (2)
setCurrent(startValue);
setStep(stepValue);
}
public int getCurrent() { return current; } // (3)
public void setCurrent(int value) { current = value; } // (4)
public void setStep(int stepValue) { step = stepValue; } // (5)
}

[John Jai]

It should be 2 right? what lead you to an heated discussion?

[Jesper de Jong]

(1) is the class declaration.
(2) is the constructor declaration.
(3), (4) and (5) are declarations of methods.

[shoeb sattar]

some one said when class is declared at that time default constructor is declared,
so line 1 is answer...can you please explain
there is confusion between when a default constructor is declared?
we also know that...

If a class does not explicitly declare any, the Java compiler automatically provides a no-argument constructor, called the default constructor

[John Jai]

shoeb sattar wrote:

If a class does not explicitly declare any, the Java compiler automatically provides a no-argument constructor, called the default constructor

As you quoted, since the class already declares a constructor, the compiler will not provide a no-arg constructor...

[shoeb sattar]

what would be the answer if no constructor was declared explicitly?

[Yatika Sharma]

The answer would be 2 when no constructor was declared explicitly.

[Matthew Brown]

shoeb sattar wrote:what would be the answer if no constructor was declared explicitly?

Well, in that case there'd be an implicit declaration of a no-arg constructor, but it would be misleading to say that any particular line declared it.

[Campbell Ritchie]

shoeb sattar wrote:some one said when class is declared at that time default constructor is declared . . .

I think that was at best confusing. You get a constructor in the class when you write one. The compiler creates a default constructor, so:-
If you do not write a constructor, there is no constructor until the compiler runs and creates it.
You can see default constructors like this

public class Foo
{
}

javac Foo.java
javap -c Foo

[Yatika Sharma]

the answer is 2. when no constructor was declared explicitly.

[shoeb sattar]

if there is no constructor declared explicitly, line 2 would not exist

public class Counter { // (1)
int current, step;
.
.
.

public int getCurrent() { return current; } // (3)
public void setCurrent(int value) { current = value; } // (4)
public void setStep(int stepValue) { step = stepValue; } // (5)
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
   Counter myCounter=new  Counter();//(6)
}

[shoeb sattar]

Matthew Brown wrote:

shoeb sattar wrote:what would be the answer if no constructor was declared explicitly?

Well, in that case there'd be an implicit declaration of a no-arg constructor, but it would be misleading to say that any particular line declared it.

Well, I think you are right and closest to what I can understand..
I don't think such question would be asked in scjp exams?