For more on this habit, check out the "Minimize Mutability" tip in Joshua Bloch's Effective JavaEffective Java.
replaced http://programmers.stackexchange.com/ with https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/
Lastly, there's the matter of habit. Others have mentioned that this is a habit (+1 to Jon for thatJon for that), but let me say something about why you would want this habit. If you are declaring fields in your class and not local variables in a method, then it's possible for multiple threads to access those fields at the same time. There are some obscure exceptions, but in general, if a field is final, then every thread that uses your class will see the same value for the variable. Conversely, if a field is not final and multiple threads are using your class, you will need to worry about explicit synchronization using synchronized blocks and/or classes from java.util.concurrent. Synchronization is possible, but programming is hard enough already. ;-) So, if you just declare everything final out of habit, then many of your fields will be final and you'll spend as little time as possible worrying about synchronization and concurrency-related bugs.
Lastly, there's the matter of habit. Others have mentioned that this is a habit (+1 to Jon for that), but let me say something about why you would want this habit. If you are declaring fields in your class and not local variables in a method, then it's possible for multiple threads to access those fields at the same time. There are some obscure exceptions, but in general, if a field is final, then every thread that uses your class will see the same value for the variable. Conversely, if a field is not final and multiple threads are using your class, you will need to worry about explicit synchronization using synchronized blocks and/or classes from java.util.concurrent. Synchronization is possible, but programming is hard enough already. ;-) So, if you just declare everything final out of habit, then many of your fields will be final and you'll spend as little time as possible worrying about synchronization and concurrency-related bugs.
Lastly, there's the matter of habit. Others have mentioned that this is a habit (+1 to Jon for that), but let me say something about why you would want this habit. If you are declaring fields in your class and not local variables in a method, then it's possible for multiple threads to access those fields at the same time. There are some obscure exceptions, but in general, if a field is final, then every thread that uses your class will see the same value for the variable. Conversely, if a field is not final and multiple threads are using your class, you will need to worry about explicit synchronization using synchronized blocks and/or classes from java.util.concurrent. Synchronization is possible, but programming is hard enough already. ;-) So, if you just declare everything final out of habit, then many of your fields will be final and you'll spend as little time as possible worrying about synchronization and concurrency-related bugs.
Lastly, there's the matter of habit. Others have mentioned that this is a habit (+1 to Jon for thatJon for that), but let me say something about why you would want this habit. If you are declaring fields in your class and not local variables in a method, then it's possible for multiple threads to access those fields at the same time. There are some obscure exceptions, but in general, if a field is final, then every thread that uses your class will see the same value for the variable. Conversely, if a field is not final and multiple threads are using your class, you will need to worry about explicit synchronization using synchronized blocks and/or classes from java.util.concurrent. Synchronization is possible, but programming is hard enough already. ;-) So, if you just declare everything final out of habit, then many of your fields will be final and you'll spend as little time as possible worrying about synchronization and concurrency-related bugs.
Lastly, there's the matter of habit. Others have mentioned that this is a habit (+1 to Jon for that), but let me say something about why you would want this habit. If you are declaring fields in your class and not local variables in a method, then it's possible for multiple threads to access those fields at the same time. There are some obscure exceptions, but in general, if a field is final, then every thread that uses your class will see the same value for the variable. Conversely, if a field is not final and multiple threads are using your class, you will need to worry about explicit synchronization using synchronized blocks and/or classes from java.util.concurrent. Synchronization is possible, but programming is hard enough already. ;-) So, if you just declare everything final out of habit, then many of your fields will be final and you'll spend as little time as possible worrying about synchronization and concurrency-related bugs.
Lastly, there's the matter of habit. Others have mentioned that this is a habit (+1 to Jon for that), but let me say something about why you would want this habit. If you are declaring fields in your class and not local variables in a method, then it's possible for multiple threads to access those fields at the same time. There are some obscure exceptions, but in general, if a field is final, then every thread that uses your class will see the same value for the variable. Conversely, if a field is not final and multiple threads are using your class, you will need to worry about explicit synchronization using synchronized blocks and/or classes from java.util.concurrent. Synchronization is possible, but programming is hard enough already. ;-) So, if you just declare everything final out of habit, then many of your fields will be final and you'll spend as little time as possible worrying about synchronization and concurrency-related bugs.
Explained the fact that final prevents you from getting into trouble with recycled variables
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lang-java