No, it's not the same. X a = new X("foo"); X b = new X("bar"); X c = a; swap(a, b); // after this, a points to X("bar") and b points to

No, it's not the same. X a = new X("foo"); X b = new X("bar"); X c = a; swap(a, b); // after this, a points to X("bar") and b points to // X("foo"), but c should remain pointing to X("foo"). If you swap the contents of the object, c would point to X("bar").