The Java Language Specification, Third Edition

15.9.4 Run-time Evaluation of Class Instance Creation Expressions EXPRESSIONS
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❖ Otherwise, the immediately enclosing instance of i with respect to S is
the first argument to the constructor, followed by the arguments in the
argument list of the class instance creation expression, if any, in the order
they appear in the expression.
◆ Otherwise the arguments in the argument list, if any, are the arguments to
the constructor, in the order they appear in the expression.
• Once the actual arguments have been determined, they are used to select a
constructor of C, using the same rules as for method invocations (§15.12). As
in method invocations, a compile-time method matching error results if there
is no unique most-specific constructor that is both applicable and accessible.
Note that the type of the class instance creation expression may be an anonymous
class type, in which case the constructor being invoked is an anonymous
constructor.
15.9.4 Run-time Evaluation of Class Instance Creation Expressions
At run time, evaluation of a class instance creation expression is as follows.
First, if the class instance creation expression is a qualified class instance creation
expression, the qualifying primary expression is evaluated. If the qualifying
expression evaluates to null, aNullPointerException is raised, and the class
instance creation expression completes abruptly. If the qualifying expression completes
abruptly, the class instance creation expression completes abruptly for the
same reason.
Next, space is allocated for the new class instance. If there is insufficient
space to allocate the object, evaluation of the class instance creation expression
completes abruptly by throwing an OutOfMemoryError (§15.9.6).
The new object contains new instances of all the fields declared in the specified
class type and all its superclasses. As each new field instance is created, it is
initialized to its default value (§4.12.5).
Next, the actual arguments to the constructor are evaluated, left-to-right. If
any of the argument evaluations completes abruptly, any argument expressions to
its right are not evaluated, and the class instance creation expression completes
abruptly for the same reason.
Next, the selected constructor of the specified class type is invoked. This
results in invoking at least one constructor for each superclass of the class type.
This process can be directed by explicit constructor invocation statements (§8.8)
and is described in detail in §12.5.
DRAFT