Adapted with permission from Arnold Rosenbloom, University of Toronto
*added by MisterV
Variable is a named loaction in main memory.
Primitive Variable
- A primitve variable will hold the value of a primitive data type.
- ie. :byte, short, int, long, float, double, char, boolean.
Referenced Variable
- A Reference holds the address of an instance of an class (a.k.a. an object)
- A reference is NOT the instance
- The VALUE of a reference is the address it holds
- Speed Dial analogy (no Inheritence)
Using Objects
Booloon b1=new Booloon(); does the following :
- Create a new instance of Balloon
- Call the initialization code for a new Balloon (constructor)
- Create a new reference to Balloon called b1
- Assign the address of the newly created/initialized balloon to b1
The following are equivalant statments: