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Variable Initialization

Local variables and member variables can be initialized with an assignment statement when they're declared. The data type of both of the assignment operator's operands must match. The MaxVariables program provides initial values for all of its local variables when they are declared. The variable declarations from that program is shown below with the initialization code in red:

// integers
byte largestByte = Byte.MAX_VALUE;
short largestShort = Short.MAX_VALUE;
int largestInteger = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
long largestLong = Long.MAX_VALUE;

// real numbers
float largestFloat = Float.MAX_VALUE;
double largestDouble = Double.MAX_VALUE;

// other primitive types
char aChar = 'S';
boolean aBoolean = true;

Method parameters and exception-handler parameters cannot be initialized in this way. The value for a parameter is set by the caller.

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