Question

I had an exam where I should look at this code and answer the following question.

Object a,b,c,d,e;
e= new Object();
b=a=e;
e= new Object();

How many objects are created by this code ?

The possible answers were these ones:

• 2
• 5
• 4
• Invalid code

It looks like 2 was the right answe, but I don’t understand why – I see 5 objects (a, b, c, d, e) here, don’t I?

Answer 1

Two objects will be instantiated

Object a,b,c,d,e; // only declares a to e as Object (at this time they are not initialized)
e= new Object(); // 1st e refers to a newly created object
b=a=e;           // b and a refer both to the same object as e
e= new Object(); // 2nd, this instantion and assignment does not 
                 // change a or b, a and b still refer to the 1st created  Object