Here's an interesting excercise regarding references in Java.
String s = "blah";
String t = "blah";
System.out.println(s == t);
s = t;
System.out.println(s == t);
This prints:
true
true
to the screen. Now try:
String s = new String("blah");
String t = new String("blah");
System.out.println(s == t);
s = t;
System.out.println(s == t);
This prints
false
true
to the screen. Java recognizes that the contents of the two string literals are identical and reuses the object by referencing both s and t to it. The "new" operator in the second listing, however forces Java to create two distinct objects.
