Final variable manipulation in Java

Question

Could anyone please tell me what is the meaning of the following line in context of Java:

final variable can still be manipulated unless it\'s immut

Answer 1

As others have said, it means that you can manipulate the object the variable points at, but you cannot change the reference (i.e. assign another object to the variable).

Objects that are mutable by design, such as a List can be changed (you can add elements to them) whereas if you have an immutable object such as a String or Integer you won't be able to change it (all the operations the class String supports return a new instance, and don't modify the actual object).