How to initialize an array of objects in Java

Question

I want to initialize an array of Player objects for a BlackJack game. I've read a lot about various ways to initialize primitive objects like an array of ints or an array of strings but I cannot take the concept to what I am trying to do here (see below). I would like to return an array of initialized Player objects. The number of player objects to create is an integer for which I prompt the user. I was thinking the constructor could accept an integer value and name the player accordingly while initializing some member variables of the Player object. I think I am close but still quite confused too.

static class Player
{
    private String Name;
    private int handValue;
    private boolean BlackJack;
    private TheCard[] Hand;

    public Player(int i)
    {
        if (i == 0)
        {
            this.Name = "Dealer"; 
        }
        else
        {
            this.Name = "Player_" + String.valueOf(i);
        }
        this.handValue = 0;
        this.BlackJack = false;
        this.Hand = new TheCard[2];
    } 
}
private static Player[] InitializePlayers(int PlayerCount)
{ //The line below never completes after applying the suggested change
    Player[PlayerCount] thePlayers;
    for(int i = 0; i < PlayerCount + 1; i++)
    {
        thePlayers[i] = new Player(i);
    }
    return thePlayers;
}

EDIT - UPDATE: Here is what I am getting after changing this as I understood your suggestion:

Thread [main] (Suspended)   
    ClassNotFoundException(Throwable).<init>(String, Throwable) line: 217   
    ClassNotFoundException(Exception).<init>(String, Throwable) line: not available 
    ClassNotFoundException.<init>(String) line: not available   
    URLClassLoader$1.run() line: not available  
    AccessController.doPrivileged(PrivilegedExceptionAction<T>, AccessControlContext) line: not available [native method]   
    Launcher$ExtClassLoader(URLClassLoader).findClass(String) line: not available   
    Launcher$ExtClassLoader.findClass(String) line: not available   
    Launcher$ExtClassLoader(ClassLoader).loadClass(String, boolean) line: not available 
    Launcher$AppClassLoader(ClassLoader).loadClass(String, boolean) line: not available 
    Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(String, boolean) line: not available  
    Launcher$AppClassLoader(ClassLoader).loadClass(String) line: not available  
    BlackJackCardGame.InitializePlayers(int) line: 30   
    BlackJackCardGame.main(String[]) line: 249  

Answer 1

It is almost fine. Just have:

Player[] thePlayers = new Player[playerCount + 1];

And let the loop be:

for(int i = 0; i < thePlayers.length; i++)

And note that java convention dictates that names of methods and variables should start with lower-case.

Update: put your method within the class body.

Answer 2

If you can hard-code the number of players

Player[] thePlayers = {
    new Player(0),
    new Player(1),
    new Player(2),
    new Player(3)
};

Answer 3

Instead of

Player[PlayerCount] thePlayers;

you want

Player[] thePlayers = new Player[PlayerCount];

and

for(int i = 0; i < PlayerCount ; i++)
{
    thePlayers[i] = new Player(i);
}
return thePlayers;

should return the array initialized with Player instances.

EDIT:

Do check out this table on wikipedia on naming conventions for java that is widely used.

Answer 4

If you are unsure of the size of the array or if it can change you can do this to have a static array.

ArrayList<Player> thePlayersList = new ArrayList<Player>(); 

thePlayersList.add(new Player(1));
thePlayersList.add(new Player(2));
.
.
//Some code here that changes the number of players e.g

Players[] thePlayers = thePlayersList.toArray();