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Thread: unable to differentiate legal and illegal forward reference

  1. #1
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    Default unable to differentiate legal and illegal forward reference

    I understand that the following is an example of valid reference in java. I also understand that at class creation, first i and j are initialized to 0. j is then re-initialized to 5, as a result of which i's value is 0 and j's is 5 inside main.
    class J
    {
     static int test()
     {
      return j;
     }
     static int i = test();
     static int j=5;
     
     public static void main(String[] args)
     {
      System.out.println(i);
      System.out.println(j);
     }
    }

    But why is the same not true for the following ? Why is it that i and j are not initialized to the default value of 0 in this case and gives an illegal forward reference?
    class test
    {
     static int i = j;
     static int j=5;
     
     public static void main(String[] args)
     {
      System.out.println(i);
      System.out.println(j);
     }
    }

    Why is it legal forward reference when using a method, and illegal when pretty much the same thing is done using a variable ?

    Please advise.
    Thanks.


  2. #2
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    Default Re: unable to differentiate legal and illegal forward reference

    Cross posted here.

    Welcome to the forum! Please read this topic for other useful info for new members, including the forum's preference for cross posts.

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