Why are local variables not initialized in Java?

Question

Was there any reason why the designers of Java felt that local variables should not be given a default value? Seriously, if instance variables can be given a default value,

Answer 1

I think the primary purpose was to maintain similarity with C/C++. However the compiler detects and warns you about using uninitialized variables which will reduce the problem to a minimal point. From a performance perspective, it's a little faster to let you declare uninitialized variables since the compiler will not have to write an assignment statement, even if you overwrite the value of the variable in the next statement.