Why local inner classes CAN "see" final variables?

[Leonardo Crespo]

Hi all, i'm wondering why a local inner class, that is, an inner class defined inside a method, can "see" a final variable declared within the method body? I know it can't see non-final variables because of scope issues, but why it's different with the final keyword?

 
public class TestFinal {
String name = "myname";

public static void main(String[] args) {
TestFinal tf = new TestFinal();
int x = 10;
tf.testStuff(x);
}

public void testStuff(int x) {
class Bar {

public void see() {
System.out.println("name"); // ok!
System.out.println(x); // not ok, must be final
}
}
Bar b = new Bar();
b.see();
}
}

Thanks again!

Leonardo.

[Srinivasa Raghavan]

This is what i feel.
Method local inner classes can only be instanciated in the method in which it is declared. When a call to the method completes the local varibles that belongs to the method are lost, but since the inner class may be alive so it can access only the final variables & members

[Santana Iyer]

final variable are also local i dont think u can access it once method is popped from stack.

correct me if reqd.

[Natta Pon]

Because final variable will be init. when the class is first loaded, and still be there all the time.
So, inner class can see this final variable even method is finished.

[Santana Iyer]

Elaborate, your comment does not make sense to me.

[Leonardo Crespo]

I'm not sure i got it. The reason method-local variables are not available to method-local inner classes is that they go out of scope when the method completes.

What's in the "final" keyword that makes those variables persist? I feel that method-local final variables should go out of scope too, but that's not the case.

[Steve Morrow]

Anonymous inner classes require final variables because of the way they are implemented in Java. An anonymous inner class (AIC) uses local variables by creating a private instance field which holds a copy of the value of the local variable. The inner class isn't actually using the local variable, but a copy. It should be fairly obvious at this point that a "Bad Thing"� can happen if either the original value or the copied value changes; there will be some unexpected data synchronization problems. In order to prevent this kind of problem, Java requires you to mark local variables that will be used by the AIC as final (i.e., unchangeable). This guarantees that the inner class' copies of local variables will always match the actual values.

[Leonardo Crespo]

Thank you very much for the explanations!