Does the Java 'final' keyword actually improve security?

Question

While there are many reasons to use the \'final\' keyword in Java, one of the ones I keep hearing over and over again is that it makes your code more secure. While this seem

Answer 1

I'm not sure I would rely on language constructs for added security in my system.

I don't think that making a field final would add security against malicious attacks (more likely against mistakes and of course threading issues). The only "real form" of security is that if you have a final constant field it might get inlined at compilation so changing its value at runtime would have no impact.

I've heard of final and security more in the context of inheritance. By making a class final you can prevent someone from subclassing it and touching or overriding its protected members, but again I would use that more to avoid mistake than to prevent threats.