I get what you said, and unfortunately Java lacks the eval() function that could be used for that. You really should do:
Code:
JButton cb0 = new JButton("yes");
JButton cb1 = new JButton("no");
JButton cb2 = new JButton("maybe");
unless you absolutely must be able to change it, in which case you could do:
Code:
cb0.setText("yes");
If you really are needing to do it in an array, you could always create an array of buttons:
Code:
JButton[] btnarray;
String[] btnlabels = {"yes", "no", "maybe"};
for (int i=0; i < btnlabels.length(); i++) {
   btnarray[i] = new JButton(btnlabels[i]);
}
If you have a good reference guide, this should be covered in it. If not, I recommend Java: How to Program by Deitel & Deitel.