A variable pointer

[tapies]

Hi,

could you please advise me how can I get a variable pointer (address) to see where it points to?

Thanks a lot,
T.

[Eranga]

It's not possible in Java, and it's foolish think to try. There is no point to deal with variable address in Java.

[tapies]

Yes, I see. I just wanted to use that to check e.g. whether two different variables pointed to the same or different memory spot.

Thank you Eranga.
T.

[Norm]

Quote:

whether two different variables pointed to the same

Use the == operator with the two variables

[Eranga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tapies

Yes, I see. I just wanted to use that to check e.g. whether two different variables pointed to the same or different memory spot.

Thank you Eranga.
T.

You mean pointed to the same memory address? Say you have two int variables as follows,

Code:

int i = 10;
int j = 10;

So you want to know that bot i and j use the same memory address, right?

The answer is no. Whenever the new variable is declared it allocated a memory space as well as address.

[fishtoprecords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eranga

It's not possible in Java, and it's foolish think to try. There is no point to deal with variable address in Java.

More, Java was carefully designed so you could not do this. It was a bug farm in C, and the Java designers did not want to maintain the bugs.

While you can do things like use == and .equals() to get an idea, none of them are guaranteed to give you the information. Its a secret and supposed to stay that way.

[ChazZeromus]

If you wanted a pointer like variable manipulation. You can created a class that makes and stores variables in a table and then you can "address" then use an index acting as an address. Lol, just trying to make a useful reply.

[Eranga]

However my thoughts on this is, very bad idea. Dealing with the memory address in Java is not required in any way, link in C/C++

[fishtoprecords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChazZeromus

If you wanted a pointer like variable manipulation. You can created a class that makes and stores variables in a table and then you can "address" then use an index acting as an address. Lol, just trying to make a useful reply.

Your reply is technically correct, but a really bad idea. This is not the Java Way. If you want to write low level code, just use C.

I would argue with your claim that it is a useful reply.

[tapies]

I see, that is not the Java Way.
Thanks a lot to all of you.
F.

[ChazZeromus]

*Shrug*
Yeah, well it's the closest thing to addresses I could think of

[Eranga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChazZeromus

*Shrug*
Yeah, well it's the closest thing to addresses I could think of

The way you are talking is correct as fishtoprecords says in his last post. And also he said that it's a bad idea. In simple word the reason is, Java is a high level language, so we never worried about in memory management.

Say you have define an array as follows in C++ and Java

Code:

int[] temp = new int[12];

Then you are using it and do some processing. After that what are you doing? In Java, nothing. But in C++, you have to clear the memory, simply delete the array.

Code:

delete[] temp;

I hope you are much clever than me on C++. If so I no need to talk about what happen if I forget to delete the array.

[fishtoprecords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eranga

Code:

delete[] temp;

what happen if I forget to delete the array.

What happens is, of course, that you get a nearly impossible to find memory leak. And you not only have to remember to write the code to do the delete, but you have to make sure that its executed on every path in your code, including any and all exceptions.

Don't forget to trap all exceptions that you never heard of, because some other developer changed code way down in the call tree in ways you never expected.

There are real engineering reasons why Java has garbage collection: it makes the computer do what programmers and other humans do poorly.

Back in the mid-1990s, folks had theological arguments that garbage collection was too slow. And it can be too slow for realtime work. So the solution is to not use Java for real time work.

The theological arguments ignored the cost and slowness of finding memory leaks in complex systems.

[Eranga]

Thanks for the info. Actually I'm not at good in C++. Just learning in my free time.