The code block with the static modifier signifies a class initializer; without the static modifier the code block is an instance initializer.
Class initializers are executed in the order they are defined (top down, just like simple variable initializers) when the class is loaded (actually, when it's resolved, but that's a technicality).
Instance initializers are executed in the order defined when the class is instantiated, immediately before the constructor code is executed, immediately after the invocation of the super constructor.
If you remove static from int a, it becomes an instance variable, which you are not able to access from the static initializer block. This will fail to compile with the error "non-static variable a cannot be referenced from a static context".
If you also remove static from the initializer block, it then becomes an instance initializer and so int a is initialized at construction.
The non-static block:
{
// Do Something...
}
Gets called every time an instance of the class is constructed. The static block only gets called once, when the class itself is initialized, no matter how many objects of that type you create.
Example:
public class Test {
static{
System.out.println("Static");
}
{
System.out.println("Non-static block");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Test t = new Test();
Test t2 = new Test();
}
}
This prints:
Static
Non-static block
Non-static block
Best Solution
You can’t call any non-
constfunctions inside a global. Often you will be able to do something like struct literals, though privacy rules may prevent you from doing this, where there are private fields and you’re not defining it in the same module.So if you have something like this:
You can write this:
… but that’s the best you’ll get in a true
staticorconstdeclaration. There are, however, workarounds for achieving this sort of thing, such as lazy-static, in which yourServer::new()is completely legitimate.