Why do this() and super() have to be the first statement in a constructor?

Question

Java requires that if you call this() or super() in a constructor, it must be the first statement. Why?

For example:

public class MyClass {
    publi         


        

Answer 1

So, it is not stopping you from executing logic before the call to super. It is just stopping you from executing logic that you can't fit into a single expression.

Actually you can execute logic with several expessions, you just have to wrap your code in a static function and call it in the super statement.

Using your example:

public class MySubClassC extends MyClass {
    public MySubClassC(Object item) {
        // Create a list that contains the item, and pass the list to super
        super(createList(item));  // OK
    }

    private static List createList(item) {
        List list = new ArrayList();
        list.add(item);
        return list;
    }
}