Java Constructor Methods Explained

A constructor is a special method whose name is identical to the class it belongs to. It does not have a return type (including void) and is automatically called when an object is created. The main purpose of a constructor is to initialize the newly created object. When using the new keyword to instantiate an object, the class’s constructor method is called to complete the object’s initialization.

Constructors can have different access modifiers such as public, private, or protected to control whether other classes can access them. If a constructor is not explicitly defined, Java will provide a default parameterless constructor; however, if a constructor with parameters is defined, Java will not provide a default constructor.

One advantage of using constructors is that they ensure objects have the correct state when they are created, avoiding the hassle of manually setting attributes after creation. Constructors can also be overloaded, meaning a class can have multiple constructors that are called based on the different parameters passed, meeting flexible requirements.