JavaFX FXML controller - constructor vs initialize method

Question

My Application class looks like this:

public class Test extends Application {

    private static Logger logger = LogManager.getRootLogger();

          


        

Answer 1

In a few words: The constructor is called first, then any @FXML annotated fields are populated, then initialize() is called.

This means the constructor does not have access to @FXML fields referring to components defined in the .fxml file, while initialize() does have access to them.

Quoting from the Introduction to FXML:

[...] the controller can define an initialize() method, which will be called once on an implementing controller when the contents of its associated document have been completely loaded [...] This allows the implementing class to perform any necessary post-processing on the content.