Re: Size of an arraylist in bytes

From:
Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.java.programmer
Date:
Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:15:18 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID:
<7367747.262.1322280918963.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@prfi36>
Arne Vajh=F8j wrote:

What is the difference between pointers for someone from a C background
and C style pointers?


"Pointers" are things defined generally for computer science and don't real=
ly depend on one's background any more than does the definition of "photon"=
.. "C-style pointer" is a colloquial way to express the connotative package=
 of assumptions about the attributes and behaviors of pointers made by thos=
e with a background in "C", or really any non-Java language. One of Java's=
 innovations (or errors, depending on your outlook) was the removal of most=
 of the attributes and behaviors those with a C background tend to associat=
e with pointers. Only the core notion that they point to the location of a=
n object remained, pretty much. No more arithmetic, no more wild pointing =
into spaces beyond allocated memory, no more aliasing pointers to different=
 types. The notion of pointer was bound much more tightly to the underlyin=
g type in Java than in C. In keeping, somewhat, with C/C++ usage and more =
general computer programming terminology, Java primarily uses the term "ref=
erence", which I suppose carries more connotations of fixed target and tigh=
tly-bound type. Still, they took pains to note in the JLS that references =
are pointers.

So, summary: "pointers" are what they are regardless of one's background, "=
C-style pointers" are pointers implemented with the attributes and behavior=
s that pointers possess in C.

--
Lew

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