A class's static initialization normally happens immediately before the first time one of the following events occur:
See JLS 12.4.1.
It is also possible to force a class to initialize (if it hasn't already initialized) by using Class.forName(fqn, true, classLoader)
or the short form Class.forName(fqn)
1 - The final bullet point was present in the JLS for Java 6 through Java 8, but it was apparently a mistake in the specification. It was finally corrected in the Java 9 JLS: see source.
Static fields are initialized during the initialization "phase" of the class loading (loading, linking and initialization) that includes static initializers and initializations of its static fields. The static initializers are executed in a textual order as defined in the class.
Consider the example:
public class Test {
static String sayHello() {
return a;
}
static String b = sayHello(); // a static method is called to assign value to b.
// but its a has not been initialized yet.
static String a = "hello";
static String c = sayHello(); // assignes "hello" to variable c
public static void main(String[] arg) throws Throwable {
System.out.println(Test.b); // prints null
System.out.println(Test.sayHello()); // prints "hello"
}
}
The Test.b prints null
because when the sayHello
was called in static scope, the static variable a
was not initialized.
Yes, all static initializers are run before you access class first time. If it was any other way, I would call it a bug.
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