Accessing Objects through References

Accessing Objects through References

Employee e1 = new Employee();
Employee e2 = new Employee();

// e1 and e2 refer to two independent Employee objects on the heap

Employee e3 = e1;

// e1 and e3 refer to the *same* Employee object

e3 = e2;

// Now e2 and e3 refer to the same Employee object

e1 = null;

// e1 no longer refers to any object. Additionally, there are no references
// left to the Employee object previously referred to by e1. That "orphaned"
// object is now eligible for garbage collection.

	Note
	The statement Employee e3 = e2; sets e3 to point to the same physical object as e2. It does not duplicate the object. Changes to e3 are reflected in e2 and vice-versa.