When to initialize an object

It makes sense that the compiler doesn't just create a default object for every reference, because that would incur unnecessary overhead in many cases. If you want the references initialized, you can do it:

1. At the point the objects are defined. This means that they'll always be initialized before the constructor is called.

2. In the constructor for that class.

3. Right before you actually need to use the object. This is often called lazy initialization. It can reduce overhead in situations where object creation is expensive and the object doesn't need to be created every time.

4. Using instance initialization.