Why does Scala language require you initialize a instance variable instead of relying on a default value?

Question

Scala language requires you initialize your instance variable before using it. However, Scala does not provide a default value for your variable. Instead, you have to set up its

Answer 1

Scala has no issue with "var name: String" in the class body. Did you try it? It doesn't mean what you want it to mean, though. It's an abstract var.

abstract class A {
  var name: String
}
// some possible uses for abstract vars
trait B { type T ; var name: T }
class B1 extends B { type T = Int ; var name: Int = 5 }
// hey, no storage
class B2 extends B { type T = String ; def name = "abc" ; def name_=(x: String) = () }