How many objects were created in this code execution?

Question

public class Animal  
{  
    public Animal()  
    {  
        Console.Writeline("Animal");  
    }  
}  

public class Snake : Animal  
{  
    public Snake()  
    {  
        Console.Writeline("Snake");  
    }  
}  

How many objects will be created in each of the following codes below?
(Refer to the above code...)

1. Animal myAnimal = new Animal();

2. Snake mySnake = new Snake();

3. Animal myAnimal = new Snake();

Answer 1

Since your code is C#, open Visual Studio. Create a new Console project. Paste your code into Class1.cs. Add your three lines into the "Main" method. Comment out 2) and 3) and run your .exe. Now comment out 1) and 3) and re-run your .exe. Finally comment out 1) and 2) and re-run your .exe. Now you have answered the question yourself.

Answer 2

In total (not counting the Program object you're running this code with, or any additional objects beyond the scope listed here), there will be 5 objects created:

• 2 Snake objects
• 1 Animal object
• 2 String objects

The string literals you are using will be interned in the intern pool (see http://csharpindepth.com/Articles/General/Strings.aspx), and therefore they will not be created more than once.