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  • Please add an even stronger emphasis to your third paragraph to state that local variables that are exposed to other threads or long-living objects will no longer be confined. Thus, the claim quoted from OP's book is very dubious. Commented Jul 31, 2012 at 5:49
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    @rwong: It is impossible to expose a local variable to another thread iin a way that would be problematic. Variables only contain primitives or references. Objects live on the heap. Commented Jul 31, 2012 at 7:31
  • @MichaelBorgwardt Lets take two cases separately say the variable contains a primitive which is case A and say the variable contains a reference which is case B . Since primitives are passed by value , the local variables are indeed thread safe but what about references . They can be passed around ? Why do you say it is impossible ? Commented Jul 31, 2012 at 8:17
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    @Geek: Because the variable and the object it refers to are two separate and different things that should not be confused when talking at this level of detail. A local variable cannot be exposed to a different thread. Objects certainly can. Commented Jul 31, 2012 at 11:32
  • @MichaelBorgwardt I see what you are saying.Thanks for the clarification. Commented Jul 31, 2012 at 11:41