Why does the below code fail to compile?

[Faisal syed]

package myPackage1;

public class Boxer1 {


int j;
j = 1;



}

[John Jai]

Assignment operation should be placed inside a method or a block like below.

public class Boxer1 {
	int j;
	{
		j = 1;
	}
	public static void main(String...args){
		Boxer1 b = new Boxer1();
		System.out.println("Block Assignment -> " + b.j);

		b.j = 2;
		System.out.println("Method Assignment -> " + b.j);			
	}
}

[Jesper de Jong]

At class level (inside a class, but outside of a method) you can only declare member variables; you cannot execute arbitrary statements.

So the declaration int j; is OK, but the assignment statement j = 1; is not allowed at class level.

[James Boswell]

You could use

int j = 1;

Personally, I don't like this style. Initialising instance members is the job of the constructor.

[Randall Twede]

now i didn't know that. i guess i just never tried to do it. personally i still like initializing when declaring when possible. but i do buy the argument that it should take place in the constructor. oh well, so i have split personality, no big deal.