Initializing a Java object in a separate method: why this won't work

Java always passes arguments by value NOT by reference.

Let me explain this through an example:

public class Main{
     public static void main(String[] args){
          Foo f = new Foo("f");
          changeReference(f); // It won't change the reference!
          modifyReference(f); // It will modify the object that the reference variable "f" refers to!
     }
     public static void changeReference(Foo a){
          Foo b = new Foo("b");
          a = b;
     }
     public static void modifyReference(Foo c){
          c.setAttribute("c");
     }
}

I will explain this in steps:

1. Declaring a reference named f of type Foo and assign it to a new object of type Foo with an attribute "f".

   Foo f = new Foo("f");

2. From the method side, a reference of type Foo with a name a is declared and it's initially assigned to null.

   public static void changeReference(Foo a)

3. As you call the method changeReference, the reference a will be assigned to the object which is passed as an argument.

   changeReference(f);

4. Declaring a reference named b of type Foo and assign it to a new object of type Foo with an attribute "b".

   Foo b = new Foo("b");

5. a = b is re-assigning the reference a NOT f to the object whose its attribute is "b".

   ---

6. As you call modifyReference(Foo c) method, a reference c is created and assigned to the object with attribute "f".

7. c.setAttribute("c"); will change the attribute of the object that reference c points to it, and it's same object that reference f points to it.

I hope you understand now how passing objects as arguments works in Java :)

Is Java “pass-by-reference” or “pass-by-value”?

Java is always pass-by-value. Unfortunately, they decided to call the location of an object a "reference". When we pass the value of an object, we are passing the reference to it. This is confusing to beginners.

It goes like this:

public static void main( String[] args ) {
    Dog aDog = new Dog("Max");
    // we pass the object to foo
    foo(aDog);
    // aDog variable is still pointing to the "Max" dog when foo(...) returns
    aDog.getName().equals("Max"); // true, java passes by value
    aDog.getName().equals("Fifi"); // false 
}

public static void foo(Dog d) {
    d.getName().equals("Max"); // true
    // change d inside of foo() to point to a new Dog instance "Fifi"
    d = new Dog("Fifi");
    d.getName().equals("Fifi"); // true
}

In this example 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 were passed by reference, then the aDog.getName() in main would return "Fifi" after the call to foo.

Likewise:

public static void main( String[] args ) {
    Dog aDog = new Dog("Max");
    foo(aDog);
    // when foo(...) returns, the name of the dog has been changed to "Fifi"
    aDog.getName().equals("Fifi"); // true
}

public static void foo(Dog d) {
    d.getName().equals("Max"); // true
    // this changes the name of d to be "Fifi"
    d.setName("Fifi");
}

In the above example, FiFi is the dog's name after call to foo(aDog) because the object's name was set inside of foo(...). Any operations that foo performs on d are such that, for all practical purposes, they are performed on aDog itself (except when d is changed to point to a different Dog instance like d = new Dog("Boxer")).

Can I pass parameters by reference in Java?

No.

Why ? Java has only one mode of passing arguments to methods: by value.

Note:

For primitives this is easy to understand: you get a copy of the value.

For all other you get a copy of the reference and this is called also passing by value.

It is all in this picture: