The char or int datatypes do not have their values stored as objects. When you change the value of a char inside a char[] array, that value is directly changed

The char or int datatypes do not have their values stored as objects. When you change the value of a char inside a char[] array, that value is directly changed in ram. This will leave the "hello" in ram (subject to GC): String x = "hello" x = null; This will clear the "hello" from ram: char[] x = new char[]{'h','e','l','l','o'}; x[0] = '0'; x[1] = '0'; ... This will leave the "hello" in ram (subject to GC): char[] x = new char[]{'h','e','l','l','o'}; x = null;