Why does name = this.name not work?

When you write: this.name =name If you change the name of the variable: private String change = "nameless cat"; public void setName(String other) { this.change = other;

private String name = "nameless cat"; public void setName(String name) { name = this.name; } In other words: this.name = nameless cat name =it is the value that you pass to the method If you change the name of the variable: private String change = "nameless cat"; public void setName(String other) { other = this.change; ..... System.out.println(cat.change); One is a local variable (other) and the (change) is an instance variable. Remember: If the local variable that is received has the same name as the instance variable, the - this - is used. So this.name = name; instance variable = local variable this.name is : private String name = "nameless cat"; name is: The local variable We pass the value to the local variable and assign it to the instance variable cat.setName("Simba"); this.name = Simba

this.name = name; works