Java String variable setting - reference or value?

Question

The following Java code segment is from an AP Computer Science practice exam.

String s1 = \"ab\";
String s2 = s1;
s1 = s1 + \"c\";
System.out.println(s1 + \"         


        

Answer 1

String is a class, so a String variable is a reference. But it's a language intrinsic, in the sense that Java has special handling and syntax for it, which is why you can do things like your example.

See e.g. http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html.