intermediate~4h
JVM Memory Architecture
A deep, precise model of where data actually lives inside a running JVM: the stack versus the heap, what really happens when you pass an object to a method, why final doesn't make an object immutable, how handing out a raw reference becomes a correctness bug, and the two specialized memory regions -- Metaspace and the String pool -- that sit outside the stack/heap picture entirely.
Learning objectives
- Explain precisely what lives on the stack versus the heap, and why that split exists
- Trace what actually happens, step by step, when an object reference is passed into a method
- Explain why Java is accurately described as pass-by-value for references, and why 'pass-by-reference' is a misleading way to describe it
- Explain why marking a reference final does not make the object it points to immutable
- Identify an escaping reference as a correctness bug and describe at least two ways to prevent one
- Explain what Metaspace and the String pool store and why they're kept separate from the regular heap
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JVM Memory Architecture