Array of superclass with multiple subclasses

Question

I have a project in which I need to use an array of objects using the superclass Person, where each element can be of the subclass either Student or Instructor. However, it produces some errors that don't make sense to me.
here is the initialization block (it is at the beginning of the class I am using it in.)
Person[] people= new Person[6];
people[0]= new Student("Jake Duck",3,25,1997,"Flying");
people[1]= new Student("Loosy Goose",3,29,1998,"Swimming");
people[2]= new Instructor("Blizzard Tiger",12,12,1996,40000);
people[3]= new Student("Tuffy Terrier",10,12,1996,"Barking");
people[4]= new Instructor("Zip Cat",3,28,1994,50000);
people[5]= new Instructor("Sparky Dalmatian",2,27,1996,30000);
This produces errors like these, modified for every entry.
C:\Java\JCreator le\MyProjects\Lab 5\L5Main.java:4: ']' expected
     people[0]= new Student("Jake Duck",3,25,1997,"Flying");
^
C:\Java\JCreator le\MyProjects\Lab 5\L5Main.java:4: <identifier> expected
     people[0]= new Student("Jake Duck",3,25,1997,"Flying");
However, when I commented out the initialization block and tried this, the same thing without the array, it seemed to accept the syntax, so I think it must be something to do with the array.
Person me = new Student("Jake Duck",3,25,1997,"Flying");
I've been trying different things and trying to find what is wrong in a couple of textbooks for about an hour now, with no luck, so if anyone has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Given that the error is on line 4 of your code, I'm going to take a guess that its not inside a method, constructor or instance initialiser.
If your code looks something like this:
public class MyClass {
Person[] people= new Person[6];
people[0]= new Student("Jake Duck",3,25,1997,"Flying");
//etc...
}then the error is because you are trying to execute code where only variable declaration are required. You can fix it by either:
1. Use an array initialisation block:
Person[] people= new Person[] {
new Student("Jake Duck",3,25,1997,"Flying"),
new Student("Loosy Goose",3,29,1998,"Swimming"),
new Instructor("Blizzard Tiger",12,12,1996,40000),
new Student("Tuffy Terrier",10,12,1996,"Barking"),
new Instructor("Zip Cat",3,28,1994,50000),
new Instructor("Sparky Dalmatian",2,27,1996,30000),
2. Use an instance initialiser:
Person[] people= new Person[6];
people[0]= new Student("Jake Duck",3,25,1997,"Flying");
people[1]= new Student("Loosy Goose",3,29,1998,"Swimming");
people[2]= new Instructor("Blizzard Tiger",12,12,1996,40000);
people[3]= new Student("Tuffy Terrier",10,12,1996,"Barking");
people[4]= new Instructor("Zip Cat",3,28,1994,50000);
people[5]= new Instructor("Sparky Dalmatian",2,27,1996,30000);
(the difference is just the braces).
3. Put the code inside the braces above, in your class's consructor.
From the brief section of code you've shown us, I'd recommend using approach (1) above, and making the array static. (but obviously I don't know that muich about what you're trying to achieve).
If none of the above suggestions solve your problem, can you post code for an entire class, that can be compiled and executed without change (just the minimum necessary to show the error - remove all unrelated code).
Hope this helps,
Matt