diff --git a/framework/YiiBase.php b/framework/YiiBase.php
index 70248ba..7d1ab98 100644
--- a/framework/YiiBase.php
+++ b/framework/YiiBase.php
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class YiiBase
 	/**
 	 * @var array initial property values that will be applied to objects newly created via [[createObject]].
 	 * The array keys are fully qualified namespaced class names, and the array values are the corresponding
-	 * name-value pairs for initializing the created class instances. Make sure the class names do not have
+	 * name-value pairs for initializing the created class instances. Make sure the class names do NOT have
 	 * the leading backslashes. For example,
 	 *
 	 * ~~~
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ class YiiBase
 	 *
 	 * - create the object using the PHP `new` operator;
 	 * - if [[objectConfig]] contains the configuration for the object class,
-	 *   initialize the object properties with that configuration;
+	 *   it will be merged with the configuration passed to this method;
 	 * - initialize the object properties using the configuration passed to this method;
 	 * - call the `init` method of the object if it implements the [[yii\base\Initable]] interface.
 	 *
@@ -374,13 +374,11 @@ class YiiBase
 
 		$c = get_class($object);
 		if (isset(\Yii::$objectConfig[$c])) {
-			$config = isset($config) ? array_merge(\Yii::$objectConfig[$c], $config) : \Yii::$objectConfig[$c];
+			$config = array_merge(\Yii::$objectConfig[$c], $config);
 		}
 
-		if (!empty($config)) {
-			foreach ($config as $name => $value) {
-				$object->$name = $value;
-			}
+		foreach ($config as $name => $value) {
+			$object->$name = $value;
 		}
 
 		if ($object instanceof \yii\base\Initable) {
diff --git a/framework/base/ApplicationComponent.php b/framework/base/ApplicationComponent.php
index 4bfbdef..6e18e67 100644
--- a/framework/base/ApplicationComponent.php
+++ b/framework/base/ApplicationComponent.php
@@ -12,30 +12,15 @@ namespace yii\base;
 /**
  * ApplicationComponent is the base class for application component classes.
  *
- * Child classes mainly needs to implement the [[Initable::init|init]] method as required by
- * the [[Initable]] interface.
- *
  * @author Qiang Xue <qiang.xue@gmail.com>
  * @since 2.0
  */
 abstract class ApplicationComponent extends Component implements Initable
 {
 	/**
-	 * @var array the behaviors that should be attached to this component.
-	 * The behaviors will be attached to the component when [[init]] is called.
-	 * Please refer to [[Model::behaviors]] on how to specify the value of this property.
-	 */
-	public $behaviors = array();
-
-	/**
 	 * Initializes the application component.
-	 * This method is invoked after the component is created and its property values are
-	 * initialized. The default implementation will call [[Component::attachBehaviors()]]
-	 * to attach behaviors declared in [[behaviors]].
-	 * If you override this method, make sure to call the parent implementation.
 	 */
 	public function init()
 	{
-		$this->attachBehaviors($this->behaviors);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/framework/base/Object.php b/framework/base/Object.php
index af49553..5d4103b 100644
--- a/framework/base/Object.php
+++ b/framework/base/Object.php
@@ -258,17 +258,17 @@ class Object
 	/**
 	 * Creates a new instance of the calling class.
 	 *
-	 * Parameters passed to this method will be used as the parameters to the object
+	 * The newly created object will be initialized with the specified configuration.
+	 *
+	 * Extra parameters passed to this method will be used as the parameters to the object
 	 * constructor.
 	 *
 	 * This method does the following steps to create a object:
 	 *
 	 * - create the object using the PHP `new` operator;
 	 * - if [[Yii::objectConfig]] contains the configuration for the object class,
-	 *   initialize the object properties with that configuration;
-	 * - if the number of the given parameters is more than the number of the parameters
-	 *   listed in the object constructor and the last given parameter is an array,
-	 *   initialize the object properties using that array;
+	 *   it will be merged with the $config parameter;
+	 * - initialize the object properties using the configuration passed to this method;
 	 * - call the `init` method of the object if it implements the [[yii\base\Initable]] interface.
 	 *
 	 * For example,
@@ -287,30 +287,25 @@ class Object
 	 *	 }
 	 * }
 	 *
-	 * $model = Foo::newInstance(1, 2, array('c' => 3));
+	 * $model = Foo::newInstance(array('c' => 3), 1, 2);
 	 * // which is equivalent to the following lines:
 	 * $model = new Foo(1, 2);
 	 * $model->c = 3;
 	 * $model->init();
 	 * ~~~
 	 *
+	 * @param array $config the object configuration (name-value pairs that will be used to initialize the object)
 	 * @return Object the created object
 	 * @throws Exception if the configuration is invalid.
 	 */
-	public static function newInstance()
+	public static function newInstance($config = array())
 	{
 		$c = get_called_class();
 		$class = '\\' . $c;
-		if (($n = func_num_args()) > 0) {
+
+		if (($n = func_num_args()-1) > 0) {
 			$args = func_get_args();
-			if (is_array($args[$n - 1])) {
-				$method = new \ReflectionMethod($class, '__construct');
-				if ($method->getNumberOfParameters() < $n) {
-					// the last EXTRA parameter is a configuration array
-					$config = $args[--$n];
-					unset($args[$n]);
-				}
-			}
+			array_shift($args); // remove $config
 		}
 
 		if ($n === 0) {
@@ -327,13 +322,11 @@ class Object
 		}
 
 		if (isset(\Yii::$objectConfig[$c])) {
-			$config = isset($config) ? array_merge(\Yii::$objectConfig[$c], $config) : \Yii::$objectConfig[$c];
+			$config = array_merge(\Yii::$objectConfig[$c], $config);
 		}
 
-		if (!empty($config)) {
-			foreach ($config as $name => $value) {
-				$object->$name = $value;
-			}
+		foreach ($config as $name => $value) {
+			$object->$name = $value;
 		}
 
 		if ($object instanceof \yii\base\Initable) {
diff --git a/framework/db/dao/Connection.php b/framework/db/dao/Connection.php
index 7c1b19b..482b152 100644
--- a/framework/db/dao/Connection.php
+++ b/framework/db/dao/Connection.php
@@ -26,7 +26,11 @@ use yii\db\Exception;
  * the DB connection:
  *
  * ~~~
- * $connection = \yii\db\dao\Connection::newInstance($dsn, $username, $password);
+ * $connection = \yii\db\dao\Connection::newInstance(array(
+ * 	'dsn' => $dsn,
+ * 	'username' => $username,
+ * 	'password' => $password,
+ * ));
  * $connection->active = true;  // same as: $connection->open();
  * ~~~
  *
@@ -255,24 +259,6 @@ class Connection extends \yii\base\ApplicationComponent
 	private $_driver;
 
 	/**
-	 * Constructor.
-	 * Note, the DB connection is not established when this connection
-	 * instance is created. You may set [[active]] to be true or call [[open]]
-	 * to establish the connection.
-	 * @param string $dsn the Data Source Name, or DSN, contains the information
-	 * required to connect to the database.
-	 * @param string $username the user name for the DSN string.
-	 * @param string $password the password for the DSN string.
-	 * @see http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.PDO-construct.php
-	 */
-	public function __construct($dsn = '', $username = '', $password = '')
-	{
-		$this->dsn = $dsn;
-		$this->username = $username;
-		$this->password = $password;
-	}
-
-	/**
 	 * Closes the connection when this component is being serialized.
 	 * @return array
 	 */
diff --git a/tests/unit/framework/base/ComponentTest.php b/tests/unit/framework/base/ComponentTest.php
index 5b42f43..d39991b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/framework/base/ComponentTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/framework/base/ComponentTest.php
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ class ComponentTest extends \yiiunit\TestCase
 
 	public function testCreate()
 	{
-		$component = NewComponent2::newInstance(1, 2, array('a'=>3));
+		$component = NewComponent2::newInstance(array('a'=>3), 1, 2);
 		$this->assertEquals(1, $component->b);
 		$this->assertEquals(2, $component->c);
 		$this->assertEquals(3, $component->a);
diff --git a/tests/unit/framework/base/ObjectTest.php b/tests/unit/framework/base/ObjectTest.php
index 2752f49..feb2742 100644
--- a/tests/unit/framework/base/ObjectTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/framework/base/ObjectTest.php
@@ -51,15 +51,15 @@ class ObjectTest extends \yiiunit\TestCase
 
 		$this->assertEquals('test', $foo->prop['test']);
 
-		$bar = Bar::newInstance(10, 20);
+		$bar = Bar::newInstance(array(), 10, 20);
 		$this->assertEquals(30, $bar->prop1);
 		$this->assertEquals(null, $bar->prop2);
 		$this->assertEquals(3, $bar->prop3);
 
-		$bar = Bar::newInstance(100, 200, array(
+		$bar = Bar::newInstance(array(
 			'prop2' => 'x',
 			'prop3' => 400,
-		));
+		), 100, 200);
 		$this->assertEquals(300, $bar->prop1);
 		$this->assertEquals('x', $bar->prop2);
 		$this->assertEquals(3, $bar->prop3);