declaring local variables final?

what is the advantage of declaring local variables (including method parameters) as final.

When using local variables in an anonymous inner class, you are required to make them final. This is to do with the invisible accessor methods that get generated to implement the anonymous inner class.

In other cases, declaring local variables as final could sometimes have advantages like: -

Allows compiler to detect unintentional modification of a variable that is supposed to be constant

May allow Java compiler or Just In Time compiler to optimise code, knowing that the variable value will not change. This might give a small performance gain in a few circumstances.

May help maintenance of the program, by making it clear to the maintainer that the variable should not change

Unlike in C++, where "const" is used a lot, such uses of "final" are not common in Java.

Other than the obvious, that the values can't be changed, I'm guessing that there is a minor performance benefit, as the JVM can set the final variables off to the side, confident that the values will never change. I believe that is the case for class/instance level final variables, and for final methods as well.

Is my hypothesis correct?

-Cameron McKenzie