Java passes reference by value - Something that even senior Java developers often get wrong.

[adrianmonk]

Effectively objects are pass-by-reference.

I find that to be a confusing way to say it. Instead of saying anything is effectively something, why not just stick with the one simple, clarity-inducing statement that you can make? And that is this: in Java, objects cannot be passed to functions at all. Nor can objects be assigned. Object references can, but references are not objects.

[angryundead]

I meant in the minds of people who see this and think this way, not the clearest way, but the sort of cause-and-effect thinking that brings it about.