Pass by value vs Pass by reference

• Java is pass by value

  • But objects are assigned to variables by their reference

  • primitives use their values

What is Pass by value

What is Pass by reference

Benefits of pass by reference

• There is no copy of the argument made, hence, it is fast.

• To avoid changes done unintentionally we can even make it pass by const reference.

• We can return multiple values from a function.

• Since arguments are not copied into the new variables, it provides greater time and space efficiency

• Runtime polymorphism can be achieved

• Reduction of Memory

  • With passing it as value, function copies 1GB of data that’s passed to it. In total, your program consumes 2 Giga bytes of memory.

  • With passing it as a reference, function instead of copying the data directly access the existing data 1GB. The data alteration by function can be secured by applying “const” to the reference parameter in the function.

Disadvantages of pass by reference

• As using a reference, you can alter the underlying object state (if the object is mutatble, ie List)

Benefits of pass by value

Disadvantages of pass by value