The Java® Language Specification, Java SE 7 Edition, Fourth Edition

10.2. Array Variables

A variable of array type holds a reference to an object. Declaring a variable of array type does not create an array object or allocate any space for array components. It creates only the variable itself, which can contain a reference to an array.

However, the initializer part of a declarator (§8.3, §9.3, §14.4.1) may create an array, a reference to which then becomes the initial value of the variable.

Example 10.2-1. Declarations of Array Variables

int[]     ai;         // array of intshort[][] as;         // array of array of shortshort     s,          // scalar short          aas[][];    // array of array of shortObject[]  ao,         // array of Object          otherAo;    // array of ObjectCollection<?>[] ca;   // array ...