Java is always pass-by-value. Unfortunately, when we deal with objects we are really dealing with object-handles called references which are passed-by-value as well. This terminology and semantics easily confuse many beginners. It goes like this: In the example above aDog.getName() will still return “Max”. The value aDog within main is not changed in the function foo with the Dog “Fifi” as the object reference is passed by value. If it … Read more
There are questions that already deal with the difference between passing by reference and passing by value. In essence, passing an argument by value to a function means that the function will have its own copy of the argument – its value is copied. Modifying that copy will not modify the original object. However, when passing by reference, … Read more
Arguments are passed by assignment. The rationale behind this is twofold: the parameter passed in is actually a reference to an object (but the reference is passed by value) some data types are mutable, but others aren’t So: If you pass a mutable object into a method, the method gets a reference to that same object and you can mutate … Read more
I always thought Java uses pass-by-reference. However, I’ve seen a blog post that claims that Java uses pass-by-value. I don’t think I understand the distinction they’re making. What is the explanation?
First and foremost, the “pass by value vs. pass by reference” distinction as defined in the CS theory is now obsolete because the technique originally defined as “pass by reference” has since fallen out of favor and is seldom used now.1 Newer languages2 tend to use a different (but similar) pair of techniques to achieve the same effects (see below) which … Read more