How can I use pointers in Java?

Question

All objects in Java are references and you can use them like pointers.

abstract class Animal
{...
}

class Lion extends Animal
{...
}

class Tiger extends Animal
{   
public Tiger() {...}
public void growl(){...}
}

Tiger first = null;
Tiger second = new Tiger();
Tiger third;

Dereferencing a null:

first.growl();  // ERROR, first is null.    
third.growl(); // ERROR, third has not been initialized.

Aliasing Problem:

third = new Tiger();
first = third;

Losing Cells:

second = third; // Possible ERROR. The old value of second is lost.    

You can make this safe by first assuring that there is no further need of the old value of second or assigning another pointer the value of second.

first = second;
second = third; //OK

Note that giving second a value in other ways (NULL, new...) is just as much a potential error and may result in losing the object that it points to.

The Java system will throw an exception (OutOfMemoryError) when you call new and the allocator cannot allocate the requested cell. This is very rare and usually results from run-away recursion.

Note that, from a language point of view, abandoning objects to the garbage collector are not errors at all. It is just something that the programmer needs to be aware of. The same variable can point to different objects at different times and old values will be reclaimed when no pointer references them. But if the logic of the program requires maintaining at least one reference to the object, It will cause an error.

Novices often make the following error.

Tiger tony = new Tiger();
tony = third; // Error, the new object allocated above is reclaimed. 

What you probably meant to say was:

Tiger tony = null;
tony = third; // OK.

Improper Casting:

Lion leo = new Lion();
Tiger tony = (Tiger)leo; // Always illegal and caught by compiler. 

Animal whatever = new Lion(); // Legal.
Tiger tony = (Tiger)whatever; // Illegal, just as in previous example.
Lion leo = (Lion)whatever; // Legal, object whatever really is a Lion.

---

Pointers in C:

void main() {   
    int*    x;  // Allocate the pointers x and y
    int*    y;  // (but not the pointees)

    x = malloc(sizeof(int));    // Allocate an int pointee,
                                // and set x to point to it

    *x = 42;    // Dereference x to store 42 in its pointee

    *y = 13;    // CRASH -- y does not have a pointee yet

    y = x;      // Pointer assignment sets y to point to x's pointee

    *y = 13;    // Dereference y to store 13 in its (shared) pointee
}

Pointers in Java:

class IntObj {
    public int value;
}

public class Binky() {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        IntObj  x;  // Allocate the pointers x and y
        IntObj  y;  // (but not the IntObj pointees)

        x = new IntObj();   // Allocate an IntObj pointee
                            // and set x to point to it

        x.value = 42;   // Dereference x to store 42 in its pointee

        y.value = 13;   // CRASH -- y does not have a pointee yet

        y = x;  // Pointer assignment sets y to point to x's pointee

        y.value = 13;   // Deference y to store 13 in its (shared) pointee
    }
} 

UPDATE: as suggested in the comments one must note that C has pointer arithmetic. However, we do not have that in Java.

As Java has no pointer data types, it is impossible to use pointers in Java. Even the few experts will not be able to use pointers in java.

See also the last point in: The Java Language Environment

Java does have pointers. Any time you create an object in Java, you're actually creating a pointer to the object; this pointer could then be set to a different object or to null, and the original object will still exist (pending garbage collection).

What you can't do in Java is pointer arithmetic. You can't dereference a specific memory address or increment a pointer.

If you really want to get low-level, the only way to do it is with the Java Native Interface; and even then, the low-level part has to be done in C or C++.

There are pointers in Java, but you cannot manipulate them the way that you can in C++ or C. When you pass an object, you are passing a pointer to that object, but not in the same sense as in C++. That object cannot be dereferenced. If you set its values using its native accessors, it will change because Java knows its memory location through the pointer. But the pointer is immutable. When you attempt to set the pointer to a new location, you instead end up with a new local object with the same name as the other. The original object is unchanged. Here is a brief program to demonstrate the difference.

import java.util.*;
import java.lang.*;
import java.io.*;

class Ideone {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws java.lang.Exception {
        System.out.println("Expected # = 0 1 2 2 1");
        Cat c = new Cat();
        c.setClaws(0);
        System.out.println("Initial value is " + c.getClaws());
        // prints 0 obviously
        clawsAreOne(c);
        System.out.println("Accessor changes value to " + c.getClaws());
        // prints 1 because the value 'referenced' by the 'pointer' is changed using an accessor.
        makeNewCat(c);
        System.out.println("Final value is " + c.getClaws());
        // prints 1 because the pointer is not changed to 'kitten'; that would be a reference pass.
    }

    public static void clawsAreOne(Cat kitty) {
        kitty.setClaws(1);
    }

    public static void makeNewCat(Cat kitty) {
        Cat kitten = new Cat();
        kitten.setClaws(2);
        kitty = kitten;
        System.out.println("Value in makeNewCat scope of kitten " + kitten.getClaws());
        //Prints 2. the value pointed to by 'kitten' is 2
        System.out.println("Value in makeNewcat scope of kitty " + kitty.getClaws());
        //Prints 2. The local copy is being used within the scope of this method.
    }
}

class Cat {

    private int claws;

    public void setClaws(int i) {
        claws = i;
    }

    public int getClaws() {
        return claws;
    }
}

This can be run at Ideone.com.

Java does not have pointers like C has, but it does allow you to create new objects on the heap which are "referenced" by variables. The lack of pointers is to stop Java programs from referencing memory locations illegally, and also enables Garbage Collection to be automatically carried out by the Java Virtual Machine.

You can use addresses and pointers using the Unsafe class. However as the name suggests, these methods are UNSAFE and generally a bad idea. Incorrect usage can result in your JVM randomly dying (actually the same problem get using pointers incorrectly in C/C++)

While you may be used to pointers and think you need them (because you don't know how to code any other way), you will find that you don't and you will be better off for it.

Technically, all Java objects are pointers. All primitive types are values though. There is no way to take manual control of those pointers. Java just internally uses pass-by-reference.