Question

I have a class with two constructors that share a bit of common functionality. They also have their own specific bit of functionality.

I was thinking of creating a private method and calling it from both constructors. Should this method be a private constructor?

Answer 1

If this method is a common constructor behavior – then IMO – yes, it will make the code more readable.

A common usage is for example (java syntax):

MyClass() { 
   this(SOME_DEFAULT_VALUE); 
} 
MyClass(int x) { ... }

Sometimes you have to write this method as a constructor, if for example (again java) it sets a final field, which cannot be modified in a method.