Constructors in Java

In Java, a constructor is a block of codes similar to the method. It is

called when an instance of the class is created. At the time of calling
constructor, memory for the object is allocated in the memory.

It is a special type of method which is used to initialize the object.

Every time an object is created using the new() keyword, at least one
constructor is called.

It calls a default constructor if there is no constructor available in the

class. In such case, Java compiler provides a default constructor by
default.

There are two types of constructors in Java: no-arg constructor, and

parameterized constructor.

Note: It is called constructor because it constructs the values at the time

of object creation. It is not necessary to write a constructor for a class. It
is because java compiler creates a default constructor if your class
doesn't have any.

Rules for creating Java constructor

There are two rules defined for the constructor.

1. Constructor name must be the same as its class name

2. A Constructor must have no explicit return type

3. A Java constructor cannot be abstract, static, final, and synchronized

Types of Java constructors
There are two types of constructors in Java:

1. Default constructor (no-arg constructor)

2. Parameterized constructor

Java Default Constructor

A constructor is called "Default Constructor" when it doesn't have any
parameter.

Syntax of default constructor:

1. <class_name>(){}

Example of default constructor

 In this example, we are creating the no-
arg constructor in the Bike class. It will be
invoked at the time of object creation.

1. //Java Program to create and call a default constructor

2. class Bike1{

3. //creating a default constructor

4. Bike1(){System.out.println("Bike is created");}

5. //main method

6. public static void main(String args[]){

7. //calling a default constructor

8. Bike1 b=new Bike1();

9. }

10. }

Output:

Bike is created
Rule: If there is no constructor in a class, compiler automatically creates a default
constructor.

Q) What is the purpose of a default constructor?

The default constructor is used to provide the default values to the object
like 0, null, etc., depending on the type.

Example of default constructor that displays the

default values
1. //Let us see another example of default constructor

2. //which displays the default values

3. class Student3{

4. int id;

5. String name;

6. //method to display the value of id and name

7. void display(){System.out.println(id+" "+name);}

8.

9. public static void main(String args[]){

10. //creating objects

11. Student3 s1=new Student3();

12. Student3 s2=new Student3();

 13. //displaying values of the object

14. s1.display();

15. s2.display();

16. }

17. }

Output:

0 null

0 null

Explanation:In the above class,you are not creating any constructor so

compiler provides you a default constructor. Here 0 and null values are
provided by default constructor.

Java Parameterized Constructor

A constructor which has a specific number of parameters is called a
parameterized constructor.

Why use the parameterized constructor?

The parameterized constructor is used to provide different values to

distinct objects. However, you can provide the same values also.
Example of parameterized constructor

In this example, we have created the constructor of Student class that

have two parameters. We can have any number of parameters in the
constructor.

1. //Java Program to demonstrate the use of the parameterized constructor.

2. class Student4{

3. int id;

4. String name;

5. //creating a parameterized constructor

6. Student4(int i,String n){

7. id = i;

8. name = n;

9. }

10. //method to display the values

11. void display(){System.out.println(id+" "+name);}

12.

13. public static void main(String args[]){

14. //creating objects and passing values

15. Student4 s1 = new Student4(111,"Karan");

16. Student4 s2 = new Student4(222,"Aryan");

17. //calling method to display the values of object

18. s1.display();

19. s2.display();

20. }

21. }
Output:

111 Karan

222 Aryan

Constructor Overloading in Java

In Java, a constructor is just like a method but without return type. It can
also be overloaded like Java methods.

Constructor overloading in Java is a technique of having more than one

constructor with different parameter lists. They are arranged in a way
that each constructor performs a different task. They are differentiated
by the compiler by the number of parameters in the list and their types.

Example of Constructor Overloading

1. //Java program to overload constructors

2. class Student5{

3. int id;

4. String name;

5. int age;

6. //creating two arg constructor

7. Student5(int i,String n){

8. id = i;

9. name = n;

10. }

11. //creating three arg constructor

12. Student5(int i,String n,int a){

13. id = i;
 14. name = n;

15. age=a;

16. }

17. void display(){System.out.println(id+" "+name+" "+age);}

18.

19. public static void main(String args[]){

20. Student5 s1 = new Student5(111,"Karan");

21. Student5 s2 = new Student5(222,"Aryan",25);

22. s1.display();

23. s2.display();

24. }

25. }

Output:

111 Karan 0

222 Aryan 25
Difference between constructor and method in
Java
There are many differences between constructors and methods. They are
given below.

Java Constructor Java Method

A constructor is used A method is

to initialize the state used to expose
of an object. the behavior of
an object.

A constructor must A method must

not have a return have a return
type. type.

The constructor is The method is

invoked implicitly. invoked
explicitly.

The Java compiler The method is

provides a default not provided by
constructor if you the compiler in
don't have any any case.
constructor in a
class.

The constructor The method

name must be same name may or
as the class name. may not be
same as the
class name.
Java Copy Constructor
There is no copy constructor in Java. However, we can copy the values
from one object to another like copy constructor in C++.

There are many ways to copy the values of one object into another in
Java. They are:

o By constructor

o By assigning the values of one object into another

o By clone() method of Object class

In this example, we are going to copy the values of one object into
another using Java constructor.

1. //Java program to initialize the values from one object to another object.

2. class Student6{

3. int id;

4. String name;

5. //constructor to initialize integer and string

6. Student6(int i,String n){

7. id = i;

8. name = n;

9. }

10. //constructor to initialize another object

11. Student6(Student6 s){

 12. id = s.id;

13. name =s.name;

14. }

15. void display(){System.out.println(id+" "+name);}

16.

17. public static void main(String args[]){

18. Student6 s1 = new Student6(111,"Karan");

19. Student6 s2 = new Student6(s1);

20. s1.display();

21. s2.display();

22. }

23. }

Output:

111 Karan

111 Karan