question: private int [ ] makeDefStateList ( ) { int [ ] retArray = new int [ fElemMapSize ] ; for ( int index = 0 ; index < fElemMapSize ; index ++ ) retArray [ index ] = - 1 ; return retArray ; }
target:  -1 is used to represent bad transitions in the transition table entry for each state. So each entry is initialized to an all -1 array. This method creates a new entry and initializes it.