That didn't come out right. lol Java always passes a copy of the pointer/reference, but does so by value. So if you cross a stack frame boundary (say call into a method) there will now be two distinct references to the thing. That's why a swap won't work, you may swap your second reference but that has no effect on the first once you get back from the call and pop the old stack frame. Hmm tricky to explain.
/Casper On Nov 12, 12:37 am, Casper Bang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yes, Java has pointers. But it has no support for pointer arithmetics > and you cannot implement a swap method. Java always passes a copy > (reference) to a pointer. > > /Casper > > On Nov 12, 12:15 am, Kram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Does Java have pointers? I have been trying to get a definitive answer > > using Google and half the sites say that Java has Pointers the other > > half say no. > > > I have found on the Sun website that Java does not have Pointers. > > Which really answers my question, but if references can be thought of > > in similar fasion, what is the difference between the two. > > > I would like it very much if someone could clearly identify for me the > > difference between Pointers and References. > > > And the million dollar question: Why, if Java does not have pointers, > > can you get a NullPointerException? > > > Thanks for the help. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
