Can I do in Java the same thing I do in Pascal ?

Question

In Pascal, I may write a procedure :
procedure poser_question (VAR question: t_question);
The parameter question is passed by reference, so it works as a resultat parameter.
According to my Java book, parameters are only passed by value, so I cannot have the construction :
Combi question = new Combi ();
poser_question (question);
Is it exact ? Or may 'question' in calling poser_question (question) be a resultat parameter ?

Answer 1

Jean-Jacques wrote:
In Pascal, I may write a procedure :
procedure poser_question (VAR question: t_question);
The parameter question is passed by reference, so it works as a resultat parameter.
According to my Java book, parameters are only passed by value, so I cannot have the construction :
Combi question = new Combi ();
poser_question (question);Java passes variables by value, but there are two separate kinds; primitive and reference variables. In your example you're passing a Combi object reference (by value). This means that a reference (pointer) to the Combi object becomes available within the poser_question method. You can use this reference to change fields in the Combi object (which exists outside poser_question).
The above is equivalent to what would happen in Pascal if you were to pass a Combi record by VAR.