Difference between Mutable objects and Immutable objects [duplicate]

Answer 1

Mutable objects have fields that can be changed, immutable objects have no fields that can be changed after the object is created.

A very simple immutable object is a object without any field. (For example a simple Comparator Implementation).

class Mutable{
  private int value;

  public Mutable(int value) {
     this.value = value;
  }

  //getter and setter for value
}

class Immutable {
  private final int value;

  public Immutable(int value) {
     this.value = value;
  }

  //only getter
}

Answer 2

Immutable objects are simply objects whose state (the object's data) cannot change after construction. Examples of immutable objects from the JDK include String and Integer.

For example:(Point is mutable and string immutable)

     Point myPoint = new Point( 0, 0 );
    System.out.println( myPoint );
    myPoint.setLocation( 1.0, 0.0 );
    System.out.println( myPoint );

    String myString = new String( "old String" );
    System.out.println( myString );
    myString.replaceAll( "old", "new" );
    System.out.println( myString );

The output is:

java.awt.Point[0.0, 0.0]
java.awt.Point[1.0, 0.0]
old String
old String

Answer 3

Mutable objects can have their fields changed after construction. Immutable objects cannot.

public class MutableClass {

 private int value;

 public MutableClass(int aValue) {
  value = aValue;
 }

 public void setValue(int aValue) {
  value = aValue;
 }

 public getValue() {
  return value;
 }

}

public class ImmutableClass {

 private final int value;
 // changed the constructor to say Immutable instead of mutable
 public ImmutableClass (final int aValue) {
  //The value is set. Now, and forever.
  value = aValue;
 }

 public final getValue() {
  return value;
 }

}

Answer 4

Immutable Object's state cannot be altered.

for example String.

String str= "abc";//a object of string is created
str  = str + "def";// a new object of string is created and assigned to str

Answer 5

They are not different from the point of view of JVM. Immutable objects don't have methods that can change the instance variables. And the instance variables are private; therefore you can't change it after you create it. A famous example would be String. You don't have methods like setString, or setCharAt. And s1 = s1 + "w" will create a new string, with the original one abandoned. That's my understanding.