Expressions that denote array objects

In Java, it is possible to write expressions that denote array objects, similarly to what we have seen for strings, where, e.g., "ciao" denotes a String object. An expression that denotes an array object is a list of expressions, of the type of the elements of the array, of the form:

{ expression1, expression2, ..., expressionk }

and it denotes an array object of k elements.

Example:

int[] v = { 4, 6, 3, 1 };

is equivalent to:

int[] v = new int[4];
v[0] = 4; v[1] = 6; v[2] = 3; v[3] = 1;

Note: While a literal of type String, such as "ciao" can be used anywhere in the body of a method to denote a string object, the expressions that denote an array can be used only to initialize an array when it is declared. The following example shows a fragment of code that is wrong:

int[] v;
v = { 4, 6, 3, 1 };  // ERROR!