Understanding Java Constructors: Initialization and Best Practices

A constructor initializes an object when it is created. It has the same name as its class and is syntactically similar to a method. However, constructors have no explicit return type.

Typically, you will use a constructor to give initial values to the instance variables defined by the class, or to perform any other start-up procedures required to create a fully formed object.

All classes have constructors, whether you define one or not, because Java automatically provides a default constructor that initializes all member variables to zero. However, once you define your own constructor, the default constructor is no longer used.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of a constructor −

class ClassName {
   ClassName() {
   }
}

Java allows two types of constructors namely −

• No argument Constructors
• Parameterized Constructors

No argument Constructors

As the name specifies the no argument constructors of Java does not accept any parameters instead, using these constructors the instance variables of a method will be initialized with fixed values for all objects.

Example

Public class MyClass {
   Int num;
   MyClass() {
      num = 100;
   }
}

You would call constructor to initialize objects as follows

public class ConsDemo {
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      MyClass t1 = new MyClass();
      MyClass t2 = new MyClass();
      System.out.println(t1.num + " " + t2.num);
   }
}

This would produce the following result

100 100

Parameterized Constructors

Most often, you will need a constructor that accepts one or more parameters. Parameters are added to a constructor in the same way that they are added to a method, just declare them inside the parentheses after the constructor's name.

Example

Here is a simple example that uses a constructor −

// A simple constructor.
class MyClass {
   int x;
   
   // Following is the constructor
   MyClass(int i ) {
      x = i;
   }
}

You would call constructor to initialize objects as follows −

public class ConsDemo {
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      MyClass t1 = new MyClass( 10 );
      MyClass t2 = new MyClass( 20 );
      System.out.println(t1.x + " " + t2.x);
   }
}

This would produce the following result −

10 20