Are fields initialized before constructor code is run in Java?

Question

Can anyone explain the output of following program? I thought constructors are initialized before instance variables. So I was expecting the output to be \"XZYY\".

Answer 1

The correct order of initialisation is:

1. Static variable initialisers and static initialisation blocks, in textual order, if the class hasn't been previously initialised.
2. The super() call in the constructor, whether explicit or implicit.
3. Instance variable initialisers and instance initialisation blocks, in textual order.
4. Remaining body of constructor after super().

See sections §2.17.5-6 of the Java Virtual Machine Specification.