> 1) The abstraction of "this thing" getting passed is certainly useful. However, things are clearer if you imagine two variables which happen to be defined in

> 1) The abstraction of "this thing" getting passed is certainly useful. However, things are clearer if you imagine two variables which happen to be defined in different scopes being set to the same object. Hopefully these questions are trivial to any Java programmer: If you have two variables set to the same object, and then change the object, are the two variables still set to the same object? Yes. If you have two variables set to the same object, and then set one of the variables to a different object, are the two variables still set to the same object? No.