Answer:

  1. Will the instance variable balance hold a permanent value?
    • Yes—balance is part of the state of the object and will hold a value as long as the object exists.
  2. Will the parameter amount hold a permanent value?
    • No—amount is used only to pass in a value to the method. It does not have a permanent existance.

Formal and Actual Parameters

The following definitions are useful:

When a method is called, the formal parameter is temporarily "bound" to the actual parameter. The method uses the formal parameter to stand for the actual value that the caller wants to be used.

For example, here the processDeposit method uses the formal parameter amount to stand for the actual value used in the procedure call:

balance = balance + amount ; 

Note: formal parameters are bound to an actual value only as long as their method is active. When a method returns to its caller, the formal parameters no longer contain any values. They cannot be used to store the state of an object.

QUESTION 3:

What is used to store the state of an object?