— Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems Chairman, President and ceo

getting 
gui
you are here
4
377
M
yInne
r 
obj
ec
t
Remember, when we talk about an inner class accessing 
something in the outer class, we’re really talking about an 
instance of the inner class accessing something in an instance of 
the outer class. But which instance?
Can any arbitrary instance of the inner class access the methods 
and variables of any instance of the outer class?
No! 
An inner object must be tied to a specifi c outer object on 
the heap.
An inner class instance must be tied to 
an outer class instance*. 
Getting in 
touch with 
your inner 
class
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Dr. Pol
y Morphism
1
MyOuter obje
ct
Make an instance of 
the outer class
2
Make an instance of 
the inner class, by 
using the instance 
of the outer class.
inner
3
The outer and inner objects 
are now intimately linked.
oute
r
These two objects on the heap 
have a special bond. The inner 
can use the outer’s variables 
(and vice-versa). 
An inner object 
shares a special 
bond with an 
outer object.
int x
String s
*There’s an exception to this, for a very special case—an inner class defi ned 
within a static method. But we’re not going there, and you might go your entire 
Java life without ever encountering one of these.

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378
 
chapter 12
class MyOuter {