String zeta = new String("The last rose of summer." );

A good answer might be:

1. A new String object is created, containing the indicated characters.
2. A reference to the object is saved in the variable zeta.

String objects are very useful and are frequently used. To make life easier for programmers, Java has a short-cut way of creating a String object, as follows:

String zeta = "The last rose of summer." ;

This creates a String object containing the characters between quote marks, just as before. Java also does something to optimize performance, but ignore this for now. A String created in this short-cut way is called a String literal. Only Strings have a short-cut like this. All other objects are constructed by using the new operator.

Some methods require a parameter that is a reference to a String object. For example,

String stringA = "Random Jottings";
String stringB = "Lyrical Ballads";

if ( stringA.equals( stringB ) ) 
  System.out.println("They are equal.");
else
  System.out.println("They are different.");

The String refered to by stringA has an equals() method. That method is called with a parameter, a reference to stringB. The method checks if both strings contain identical characters, and if so, evaluates to true ("returns true").

Careful:   The previous paragraph is accurate, but awkward. Almost always people say "The equals method of stringA is called with stringB". This is fine, as long as you remember that a variable like stringA is not the object, but only a reference to an object. This may seem picky, but there is nothing quite as picky as a computer. To avoid future confusion, make sure you understand variables, objects, and references.

QUESTION 2:

(Review:) Examine the following snippet of code:

String a;
Point  b;

• What is the data type of the variable a?
• What is the data type of the variable b?
• How many objects are there (so far)?