Question

class Person
{
    string name;

    public Person(string name)
    {
        this.name = name;
    }

    public void method()
    {
        Person gupta = new Person("James"); // Current Object
        Console.WriteLine(this.name);
        Person gupta1 = new Person("Peter");  // Current Object
        Console.WriteLine(this.name);
        Person gupta2 = new Person("Frank");  // Current Object
        Console.WriteLine(this.name);
    }

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Person p = new Person("Jim");
        p.method();
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

This code produced result

Jim
Jim
Jim

However if thought this should be

James
Peter
Frank

Can somebody explain please?

Answer 1

“Current object” is a rather informal way of speaking. It is ok as long as you don’t get confused about what it refers to.

Do not think of it as a kind of “chronological” measure – the “current object” is not the very object you last instantiated anywere. Instead, it is the instance of the class on which you called the current execution of the method.

At the time of writing “this.(…)”, you don’t know which instance it will be. You will now when the code is called.

Person somePerson = new Person("Lucy");
somePerson.method();

Inside this call to method, “this” will be Lucy – because the method method is being called on that particular instance of Person. The little Persons you create inside method will not affect this at all.

Further clarification:

Person somePerson = new Person("Lucy");
somePerson.method(); // inside method, "this" is Lucy.

Person somePerson = new Person("Anne");
somePerson.method(); // inside method, "this" is Anne.

Person somePerson = new Person("Sarah");
somePerson.method(); // inside method, "this" is Sarah.

Person somePerson = new Person("Emily");
somePerson.method(); // inside method, "this" is Emily.