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Subtle Array question

 
Greenhorn
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Is there any subtle differences between the following two declarations?
int [] x = {1, 2, 3};
int [] x = new int[] {1, 2, 3};
 
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I don't think there is any difference, this is so to speak, syntactic sugar in my opinion.
 
Greenhorn
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Originally posted by Danny Duong:
Is there any subtle differences between the following two declarations?
int [] x = {1, 2, 3};
int [] x = new int[] {1, 2, 3};


Yes.
The first is implicit initialization of an array.
You use the new int[] to initialize the array object itself. That is, if you want your array to contain 3 elements, you make use of the new operator in this way,
int [] x;
x = new int[3];
Then, you can explicitly initialize each element of the array object, referenced by a primitive variable 'x'.
int [] x = new int[] {1, 2, 3}; // will
// give compile-time error
All the best Danny
 
Valentin Crettaz
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Ikechukwu,
I don't understand why you say that
int [] x = new int[] {1, 2, 3};
gives a compiler error.
That code is perfectly legal. It compiles and runs fine. Please shed some light on this.
An illegal statement would be to specify the array length AND the array initializer at the same time, as in
int[] arr = new int[3] {1,2,3};
Please refer to JLS 10 Arrays
[ December 16, 2002: Message edited by: Valentin Crettaz ]
 
Greenhorn
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Hi Danny,
I agree with Valentine. There is really no difference in terms of construct and initialization between the two array statements:
int [] x = {1, 2, 3};
int [] x = new int[] {1, 2, 3};
But the primary purpose of the new int[] {1, 2, 3} is for anonymous array since you can create it without declaring an array name.
Also, int [] x = new int[] {1, 2, 3}; // will NOT give compile-time error
Hope that makes sense.
 
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