Re: Have you seen anything like this?

["Larry Loen" <lwloen@xxxxxxxxxx>]

As has been said, these are usually called "static initializers"

>In my java class yesterday, my instructor went over a new constructor
>type thing. He called it a class constructor. Here is an example:

>public class Test {
>    static {
>       // set of instructions here
>    }
>
>    Test() {
>      // set of instructions here
>}
> }

In servlets, I have found these static (class) initializers extremely
useful.  You have guaranteed, single-threaded execution at class load time.
This is a great opportunity to do one-time things like get connections,
prepare SQL statements, initialize Vectors and Hashtables and so on.
Especially good for "immutable" type objects that don't have to by
otherwise synchronized because you can't or won't change them after you
build them in the static initializer.


Larry W. Loen  -   Senior Linux, Java, and iSeries Performance Analyst
                             Dept HP4, Rochester MN