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If we're using the "reference type" meaning of reference, then the phrase "objects are passed by reference" is grammatical nonsense. At best it becomes a tautol
by ajanuary 12y ago
If we're using the "reference type" meaning of reference, then the phrase "objects are passed by reference" is grammatical nonsense. At best it becomes a tautology - "reference types are passed as reference types". What does that even mean? That reference types don't magically become value types when you pass them in as arguments? That doesn't actually say anything useful about the evaluation strategy.
- dlubarov 12y agoIt would mean that the invoked method gets a reference to the original object rather than its own copy of the object. It's only obvious if we assume some knowledge of Java's semantics.
- mannykannot 12y agoYou appear to be saying 'we can call it pass-by-reference if we use a special definition of the term when speaking about Java.' "A word means what I want it to mean, nothing more, nothing less." - Humpty Dumpty, 'Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There'. There should be a variant of Occam's Razor specifically against unnecessary semantic splitting and proliferation.