Initialization with inheritance
It’s helpful to look at the whole initialization process, including inheritance, to get a full picture of what happens. Consider the following example:
//: reusing/Beetle.java
// The full process of initialization.
import static net.mindview.util.Print.*;
class Insect {
private int i = 9;
protected int j;
Insect() {
print("i = " + i + ", j = " + j);
j = 39;
}
private static int x1 =
printInit("static Insect.x1 initialized");
static int printInit(String s) {
print(s);
return 47;
}
}
public class Beetle extends Insect {
private int k = printInit("Beetle.k initialized");
public Beetle() {
print("k = " + k);
print("j = " + j);
}
private static int x2 =
printInit("static Beetle.x2 initialized");
public static void main(String[] args) {
print("Beetle constructor");
Beetle b = new Beetle();
}
} /* Output:
static Insect.x1 initialized
static Beetle.x2 initialized
Beetle constructor
i = 9, j = 0
Beetle.k initialized
k = 47
j = 39
*///:~
The first thing that happens when you run Java on Beetle is that you try to access Beetle.main( ) (a static method), so the loader goes out and finds the compiled code for the Beetle class (this happens to be in a file called Beetle.class). In the process of loading it, the loader notices that it has a base class (that’s what the extends keyword says), which it then loads. This will happen whether or not you’re going to make an object of that base class. (Try commenting out the object creation to prove it to yourself.)
If the base class has a base class, that second base class would then be loaded, and so on. Next, the static initialization in the root base class (in this case, Insect) is performed, and then the next derived class, and so on. This is important because the derived-class static initialization might depend on the base class member being initialized properly.
At this point, the necessary classes have all been loaded so the object can be created. First, all the primitives in this object are set to their default values and the object references are set to null—this happens in one fell swoop by setting the memory in the object to binary zero. Then the base-class constructor will be called. In this case the call is automatic, but you can also specify the base-class constructor call (as the first operation in the Beetle( ) constructor) by using super. The base class construction goes through the same process in the same order as the derived-class constructor. After the base-class constructor completes, the instance variables are initialized in textual order. Finally, the rest of the body of the constructor is executed.
[Thinking in Java, 189]
