What does this use of static mean in a Java class (not in a method)?

Asked Jun 16 '17 at 20:14

Active Jun 16 '17 at 20:21

Viewed 37 times

I'm seeing code like this at the beginning of a Java class.
This is clearly not a method. What does it do?

static {
    // Grab the source ordering and create a lookup table
    // e.g. x => 0, z => 1, a => 2...
    for (int i = 0; i < Constants.SOURCE_ORDER.length; i++) {
        sourceSortOrderMap.put(Constants.SOURCE_ORDER[i], i);
    }
}

edited Jun 16 '17 at 20:21

Boann

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asked Jun 16 '17 at 20:14

Dannyboy

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It's a *static initializer block*. – janos Jun 16 '17 at 20:15
Have you tried reading the Tutorial or the JLS? http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/initial.html You might be amazed at how useful the documentation can be. – Lew Bloch Jun 16 '17 at 22:36
@LewBloch I thought I did - must have missed it. – Dannyboy Jun 19 '17 at 13:05

What does this use of static mean in a Java class (not in a method)?

0 Answers0