The this Keyword
IntroducedA parameter can hide the field it should update
- An object has name "Ada". setName(String name) runs name = name; with the argument "Bo".
- Both unqualified names refer to the parameter, so the object still has "Ada". this.name = name assigns the parameter value to the field instead.
"This object"
- Inside an instance method,
thisrefers to the object the method was called on.student.addScore(10)runs withthis= thatstudent. this.scoremeans "thescoreof the object I'm working on." It lets a method talk about its own object explicitly.
Distinguishing field from parameter
- The main use: tell an instance variable apart from a parameter of the same name.
void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } this.nameis the instance variable; plainnameis the parameter. This is the standard fix for the shadowing bug from 3.8.
Access to the receiver object
thisgives a method a handle on the exact object it was called on. Every instance method has an implicitthis, whether you write it or not.- When score names an unshadowed instance field,
score += s;usesthis.score. If a parameter or local named score shadows it, the unqualified name instead refers to that variable. You writethisexplicitly only when needed (like resolving shadowing).
this refers to the receiver object
Inside setName, this is the ada object it was called on.
Inside an instance method, this refers to...
this is a handle on the current object.
In setName(String name) { this.name = name; }, this.name is...
this.name is the field; plain name is the parameter.
The this keyword can be used inside a static method.
Static methods have no particular object, so no this.
Writing name = name; (no this) inside setName(String name) does what?
Both names are the parameter; use this.name to reach the field.
Every instance method has an implicit this, whether you write it or not.
An instance method has a current receiver. An unqualified score names this.score only if no parameter or local shadows that field.
No this in a static method
- A static method has no
this— it isn't tied to any particular object. So a static method cannot usethisor an unqualified instance field, but may read an instance field through an explicit reference when access permission allows it. - Trying to use
thisin a static method is a compile error. If you needthis, the method must be an instance method, not static.
Use this.field = param; to defeat shadowing — this.name is the instance variable, plain name is the parameter. Writing name = name; (no this) just assigns the parameter to itself. And this doesn't exist in a static method — a static method has no particular object, so using this there won't compile.
Type the field value after the faulty setName("Bo") call on the described object.
The parameter assigns to itself; the field is unchanged until this.name is used on the left.
If alias and a reference the same Student, alias.setName("Di") changes the name later read through a.
Both references identify the same receiver object, whose field is updated.
Code in object b calls a.setName("Cy"). Inside setName, which object is this?
The receiver a supplies this, regardless of which other object's code initiated the call.
Fixing the shadowing bug with this:
- Instance variable
private String name; void setName(String name) { this.name = name; }— correct!this.name(the field) gets the value ofname(the parameter).
Carry the reasoning to a new case
- Trace a and b as separately created students named Ada and Bo.
a.setName("Cy")changes a to Cy while b stays Bo. If alias=a,alias.setName("Di")changes that same first object, so a now reads Di. - The receiver is the object the instance method acts on, not necessarily the object whose code called it. A static method can operate on an explicit object reference, but has no implicit this.
this refers to the current object — the one an instance method was called on. Its key use is resolving shadowing: this.name = name; assigns the parameter to the instance variable. Every instance method has an implicit this, but a static method has none, so this can't be used there.