Objects

Create objects with the new keyword followed by a constructor. For example, the following program creates a TwoDPoint object and prints its fields:

class OriginPrinter {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
  
    TwoDPoint origin; // only declares, does not allocate
    
    // The constructor allocates and usually initializes the object
    origin = new TwoDPoint();    
    
    // set the fields
    origin.x = 0.0;
    origin.y = 0.0;
    
    // print the two-d point
    System.out.println("The origin is at " + origin.x + ", " + origin.y);
    
  }  // end main
  
} // end OriginPrinter

A constructor invocation with new is required to allocate an object. There is no C++ like static allocation.

To compile this class, put it in a file called OriginPrinter.java in the same directory as TwoDPoint.java and type:

% javac OriginPrinter.java

Is this a complete program now? Can you run it?