CODEWITHSUNDEEP
java
Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds

Reputation: 31

Why are classes considered reference types?

I am a beginner programmer and have a question. My book says classes are examples of references types and I am a little confused by this. I know their objects created from them certainly would be, but why would the class itself be a reference type?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 112

Answers (1)

Sergey Kalinichenko
Sergey Kalinichenko

Reputation: 726519

I know their objects created from them certainly would be, but why would the class itself be a reference type?

Objects created from classes are reference objects, while classes themselves are reference types.

However, classes themselves have a run-time representation presented to programmers in the form of an instance of a class called Class. This makes classes reference objects, in addition to being reference types.

Upvotes: 1

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