public static factory method

Question

First of all please forgive me if its a really dumb question, I am just trying to learn this language to its core. I am reading Effective Java and the very first chapter tal

Answer 1

When you use the new keyword then you as the developer know that the JDK will create a new instace of that object. What the author is saying, when you use a static method, the developer no longer knows if the method is creating a new instance or possibly doing something else. Something else can be, reusing cached data, object pooling, creating a private implementation and returning a subclass of the class.