访问另一个类的数组变量

Question

Lets say I have a class as below:

public class class1{

   private int[] array1;

   public class1(){
      array1 = new int[10];
      }

   public int[] getArray(){
      return array1;
      }
}

If I create an instance of this class in another class or in main and use the getArray() method to assign the array to another variable in the upper class and then modify the values of the array there, will the original array values in the first class be modified also?

Answer 1

will the original array values in the first class be modified also?

Yes it will be modified, because what you get in your caller, is not a copy of the array itself, rather you get a copy of the reference to the original array object.

And, if you modify the array using any reference, the change will be reflected for all the references pointing to the array.

Answer 2

yes, the original array values will also be modified.

As you are returning the reference of the array from the method. The reference is nothing but a pointer to the address of the object. When you return it from the method, it is assigned to another reference. if you modify any thing using that reference, you are essentially modifying the same array ie the original array.