You don't have to place class variable declarations at the beginning of a class. : Variables « Language « Java Tutorial

public class MainClass
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        helloMessage = "Hello, World!";
        System.out.println(helloMessage);
    }

    static String helloMessage;
}

1.9.Variables
	1.9.1.	Variables
	1.9.2.	Variable Dynamic Initialization
	1.9.3.	Demonstrate lifetime of a variable
	1.9.4.	shows the proper way to declare a class variable named helloMessage
	1.9.5.	You don't have to place class variable declarations at the beginning of a class.
	1.9.6.	helloMessage variable is declared as a local variable: