java just curly braces

Question

I was reading a book and there were a few example with programs that has just curly braces

for example

 public static void main(String args[]){
             


        

Answer 1

Be careful, it is NOT ALWAYS an initialisation block as others have suggested. In your case it is a variable scoping mechanism called a Code Block or block.

If it is outside of a method, then it is!

Example

public class MyClass {

   {
      // this is an initialisation block
   }

}

However, if it is inside a method, it is NOT! In this case (which is the case in your example), it is a code block. Anything initialised inside the curly braces is not visible outside

Example

public static void main(String args[]){

     {
          String myString = "you can't see me!";
     }
     System.out.println(myString); // this will not compile because myString is not visible.
 }