Java default constructor

Question

What exactly is a default constructor — can you tell me which one of the following is a default constructor and what differentiates it from any other constructor?

public Module() {
   this.name = "";
   this.credits = 0;
   this.hours = 0;
}

public Module(String name, int credits, int hours) {
   this.name = name;
   this.credits = credits;
   this.hours = hours;
}

Answer 1

Neither of them. If you define it, it's not the default.

The default constructor is the no-argument constructor automatically generated unless you define another constructor. Any uninitialised fields will be set to their default values. For your example, it would look like this assuming that the types are String, int and int, and that the class itself is public:

public Module()
{
  super();
  this.name = null;
  this.credits = 0;
  this.hours = 0;
}

This is exactly the same as

public Module()
{}

And exactly the same as having no constructors at all. However, if you define at least one constructor, the default constructor is not generated.

Reference: Java Language Specification

If a class contains no constructor declarations, then a default constructor with no formal parameters and no throws clause is implicitly declared.

Clarification

Technically it is not the constructor (default or otherwise) that default-initialises the fields. However, I am leaving it the answer because

• the question got the defaults wrong, and
• the constructor has exactly the same effect whether they are included or not.

Answer 2

A default constructor is created if you don't define any constructors in your class. It simply is a no argument constructor which does nothing. Edit: Except call super()

public Module(){
}

Answer 3

A default constructor is automatically generated by the compiler if you do not explicitly define at least one constructor in your class. You've defined two, so your class does not have a default constructor.

Per The Java Language Specification Third Edition:

8.8.9 Default Constructor

If a class contains no constructor declarations, then a default constructor that takes no parameters is automatically provided...

Answer 4

Hi. As per my knowledge let me clear the concept of default constructor:

The compiler automatically provides a no-argument, default constructor for any class without constructors. This default constructor will call the no-argument constructor of the superclass. In this situation, the compiler will complain if the superclass doesn't have a no-argument constructor so you must verify that it does. If your class has no explicit superclass, then it has an implicit superclass of Object, which does have a no-argument constructor.

I read this information from the Java Tutorials.

Answer 5

Java provides a default constructor which takes no arguments and performs no special actions or initializations, when no explicit constructors are provided.

The only action taken by the implicit default constructor is to call the superclass constructor using the super() call. Constructor arguments provide you with a way to provide parameters for the initialization of an object.

Below is an example of a cube class containing 2 constructors. (one default and one parameterized constructor).

public class Cube1 {
    int length;
    int breadth;
    int height;
    public int getVolume() {
        return (length * breadth * height);
    }

    Cube1() {
        length = 10;
        breadth = 10;
        height = 10;
    }

    Cube1(int l, int b, int h) {
        length = l;
        breadth = b;
        height = h;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Cube1 cubeObj1, cubeObj2;
        cubeObj1 = new Cube1();
        cubeObj2 = new Cube1(10, 20, 30);
        System.out.println("Volume of Cube1 is : " + cubeObj1.getVolume());
        System.out.println("Volume of Cube1 is : " + cubeObj2.getVolume());
    }
}

Answer 6

General terminology is that if you don't provide any constructor in your object a no argument constructor is automatically placed which is called default constructor.

If you do define a constructor same as the one which would be placed if you don't provide any it is generally termed as no arguments constructor.Just a convention though as some programmer prefer to call this explicitly defined no arguments constructor as default constructor. But if we go by naming if we are explicitly defining one than it does not make it default.

As per the docs

If a class contains no constructor declarations, then a default constructor with no formal parameters and no throws clause is implicitly declared.

Example

public class Dog
{
}

will automatically be modified(by adding default constructor) as follows

public class Dog{
    public Dog() {

    }
} 

and when you create it's object

 Dog myDog = new Dog();

this default constructor is invoked.

Answer 7

default constructor refers to a constructor that is automatically generated by the compiler in the absence of any programmer-defined constructors.

If there's no constructor provided by programmer, the compiler implicitly declares a default constructor which calls super(), has no throws clause as well no formal parameters.

E.g.

class Klass {
      // Default Constructor gets generated
} 

new Klass();  // Correct
-------------------------------------

class KlassParameterized {

    KlassParameterized ( String str ) {   //// Parameterized Constructor
        // do Something
    }
} 

new KlassParameterized(); //// Wrong  - you need to explicitly provide no-arg constructor. The compiler now never declares default one.


--------------------------------

class KlassCorrected {

    KlassCorrected (){    // No-arg Constructor
       /// Safe to Invoke
    }
    KlassCorrected ( String str ) {   //// Parameterized Constructor
        // do Something
    }
} 

new KlassCorrected();    /// RIGHT  -- you can instantiate

Answer 8

If a class doesn't have any constructor provided by programmer, then java compiler will add a default constructor with out parameters which will call super class constructor internally with super() call. This is called as default constructor.

In your case, there is no default constructor as you are adding them programmatically. If there are no constructors added by you, then compiler generated default constructor will look like this.

public Module()
{
   super();
}

Note: In side default constructor, it will add super() call also, to call super class constructor.

Purpose of adding default constructor:

Constructor's duty is to initialize instance variables, if there are no instance variables you could choose to remove constructor from your class. But when you are inheriting some class it is your class responsibility to call super class constructor to make sure that super class initializes all its instance variables properly.

That's why if there are no constructors, java compiler will add a default constructor and calls super class constructor.

Answer 9

When we do not explicitly define a constructor for a class, then java creates a default constructor for the class. It is essentially a non-parameterized constructor, i.e. it doesn't accept any arguments.

The default constructor's job is to call the super class constructor and initialize all instance variables. If the super class constructor is not present then it automatically initializes the instance variables to zero. So, that serves the purpose of using constructor, which is to initialize the internal state of an object so that the code creating an instance will have a fully initialized, usable object.

Once we define our own constructor for the class, the default constructor is no longer used. So, neither of them is actually a default constructor.

Answer 10

A default constructor does not take any arguments:

public class Student { 
    // default constructor
    public Student() {   

    }
}

Answer 11

I hope you got your answer regarding which is default constructor. But I am giving below statements to correct the comments given.

• Java does not initialize any local variable to any default value. So if you are creating an Object of a class it will call default constructor and provide default values to Object.

• Default constructor provides the default values to the object like 0, null etc. depending on the type.

Please refer below link for more details.

https://www.javatpoint.com/constructor