interpretation of the statement in java

Question

I am confused over the interpretation of the following statement

Fruit x= new Fruit();

My interpretation is that the new operator along with Fruit(); creates a new object somewhere in the memory.

Now x is a reference variable that points toward the object created and if I write Fruit x , does it only mean that a reference variable is created which points no where?

Can i also say that x keeps the memory location of the object?

Answer 1

You are absolutely correct.

new operator reserves space in memory for a new object of Type Fruit. Assignment = assigns the reference to your variable x.

If you were to write Fruit y = x;, you would only create a new reference, so both y and x would still be pointing to single location on memory.

For more in-depth knowledge, check out this article.

Answer 2

The statement Fruit x = new Fruit(); creates a new object belonging to the class Fruit and x stores a reference to that object.

More specifically, when the computer executes this statement, it allocates memory to hold a new object of type Fruit. It calls a constructor, which can initialize the instance variable of the object as well as perform other tasks. A reference to the new object is returned as the value of the expression "new Fruit()".

Finally, the assignment statement stores the reference in the variable x. So, x can now be used to access the new object.