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javaobjectarraylistnaming

Rename object names in methods

I've got a piece of code

list.add(new Person())

Since the Person object is missing it's naming part 

Person p = new Person()

What kind of name does this person object get assigned to?

Is it important to know the name of the object? How would I go about accessing this object's methods if it is added to the ArrayList without a name?

edit: name == reference. I know objects don't have names

Solution

  • p is not "the name of the object". p is a variable that happens to hold a reference to the Person object. Objects don't have names.

    If you skip declaring the p variable and add the Person object directly to the ArrayList, the ArrayList still holds a reference to that object, so it doesn't matter whether you use list.add(new Person()) or list.add(p).

    Either way you can retrieve the reference to the Person with list.get(index), and then execute any methods you wish.