CHAPTER 6: Names

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6.1 Declarations

A declaration introduces an entity into a Java program and includes an identifier (S3.8) that can be used in a name to refer to this entity. A declared entity is one of the following:

• A package, declared in a package declaration (S7.4)
• An imported type, declared in a single-type-import declaration (S7.5.1) or a type-import-on-demand declaration (S7.5.2)
• A class, declared in a class type declaration (S8.1)
• An interface, declared in an interface type declaration (S9.1)
• A member of a reference type (S8.2, S9.2, S10.7), one of the following:
  • A field, one of the following:
    • A field declared in a class type (S8.3)
    • A constant field declared in an interface type (S9.3)
    • The field length , which is implicitly a member of every array type (S10.7)
  • A method, one of the following:
    • A method (abstract or otherwise) declared in a class type (S8.4)
    • A method (always abstract ) declared in an interface type (S9.4)

• A parameter, one of the following:
  • A parameter of a method or constructor of a class (S8.4.1, S8.6.1)
  • A parameter of an abstract method of an interface (S9.4)
  • A parameter of an exception handler declared in a catch clause of a try statement (S14.18)
• A local variable, one of the following:
  • A local variable declared in a block (S14.3)
  • A local variable declared in a for statement (S14.12)

Constructors (S8.6) are also introduced by declarations, but use the name of the class in which they are declared rather than introducing a new name.