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In object-oriented (OO) and functional programming, an immutable object (unchangeable [1] object) is an object whose state cannot be modified after it is created. [2] This is in contrast to a mutable object (changeable object), which can be modified after it is created. [3]
Concrete classes have to explicitly declare they implement the immutable interface. This may not be possible if the concrete class "belongs to" third-party code, for instance, if it is contained within a library. The object is not really immutable and hence not suitable for use in data structures relying on immutability like hash maps.
Classes may inherit from other classes, so they are arranged in a hierarchy that represents "is-a-type-of" relationships. For example, class Employee might inherit from class Person. All the data and methods available to the parent class also appear in the child class with the same names.
Final variables can be used to construct trees of immutable objects. Once constructed, these objects are guaranteed not to change anymore. To achieve this, an immutable class must only have final fields, and these final fields may only have immutable types themselves. Java's primitive types are immutable, as are strings and several other classes.
Any call to a class (static or constructor call), triggers the static constructor execution. Static constructors are thread safe and implement a singleton pattern. When used in a generic programming class, static constructors are called at every new generic instantiation one per type. [8]: 38 [4]: 111 Static variables are instantiated as well.
The immutable keyword denotes data that cannot be modified through any reference. The const keyword denotes a non-mutable view of mutable data. Unlike C++ const, D const and immutable are "deep" or transitive, and anything reachable through a const or immutable object is const or immutable respectively. Example of const vs. immutable in D
The tail will not be duplicated, instead becoming shared between both the old list and the new list. So long as the contents of the tail are immutable, this sharing will be invisible to the program. Many common reference-based data structures, such as red–black trees, [7] stacks, [8] and treaps, [9] can easily be adapted to create a ...
Implementations of the singleton pattern ensure that only one instance of the singleton class ever exists and typically provide global access to that instance. Typically, this is accomplished by: Declaring all constructors of the class to be private, which prevents it from being instantiated by other objects