This Keyword in Java Full Tutorial - How to Use "this"

What does the "this" keyword mean in Java? How and when do you use "this"? We'll cover all of that (and all of "this") in this video.
In Java, the keyword "this" can be confusing for beginners. What does "this" even really mean? How do I know when I have to use it, and what does "this" actually refer to when I do use it?
In this beginner Java tutorial video, we'll give a complete overview of the "this" keyword in Java. By the end of the vide you'll know everything you need to confidently use "this" in your Java programs.
Learn or improve your Java by watching it being coded live!
Hi, I'm John! I'm a Lead Java Software Engineer and I've been in the programming industry for more than a decade. I love sharing what I've learned over the years in a way that's understandable for all levels of Java learners.
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[@lfcbpro]

I've gotta say John, I am doing Java in Uni, and I have their book, and a few others, but your videos wipe the floor with them when it comes to clarity and explanations. Seriously, if you aren't a teacher, you should be one. I was disheartened when I was reading the course materials for my class, but just watching your videos has really helped with everything. Thank you very much indeed.

[@JusQuelle]

This was a great explanation of the "this" keyword, thank you so much!

[@mariap11315]

I've watched a bunch of your videos today just in two hours and I'm amazed of how you make things look so clear in just seven minutes or so per topic :D Great job!

[@instayville-is2no]

Your explanations have helped me fully wrap my head around these concepts that I have never been able to understand for years in my self-study. Thank you so much! I've subscribed since I'm going all-in on learning Java at this point and I really want to hone in on the basic concepts.

[@Clean_Slate]

You make things look so much easier. I feel like I have watched perhaps an entire lecture after most (if not all) of your videos. And I mean that in the best possible way. Keep being great, you certainly have a gift in teaching!

[@koncretemonki8077]

YES!!!

[@bhaweshpandey4306]

I am a beginner, so I guess it will take sometime to thoroughly grasp all at once. Thanks for the explanation man!!

[@tonyregalado7281]

probably the best "this" keyword tutorial I've come across... and I've watched a ton. Thanks!

[@janelain8611]

this keyword was so confusing to me as a beginner- more than most other concepts!!-video really nails it down, and helps reinforce my understanding

[@tianyiyin4847]

The explanation is insanely clear! Saved me from another course tbh

[@gabrielfono844]

This is whole different level. I am working hard to get to this point where explaining concept is as easy as coidng with john currently explains thanks for your hard work we all really appreciate.

[@user-jq1mp3jc1h]

Best explaination on "this" keyword i have ever seen so far on Yt!!! Thanks a lot man🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@user-ob8kq6dv6e]

Your channel single handedly allowed me to pass my intro to java course. Went from failing to a 3.0. Thank you!

[@rnages1921]

You explain it better than anyone, bc you inform us what we need to know NOT what you know.

[@kevincarter3753]

Great tutorials! Right length, right content and great attitude!

[@Gandhi_Physique]

Wow, I wasn't expecting to learn anything but now I understand it much better. I didn't even know you could call a constructor in that way.

[@hammer9185]

I'm just impressed by the way you explain Everything! Excellent job!

[@Hassan-lv9di]

The best explanation i've ever seen !!! thank you alot John! keep up the hard work

[@dekumutant]

Your channel is fantastic. Please don't stop

[@abdelkaderkaouane9682]

I think that using "this" in class methods, like constructor or getters and setters, is not for avoid confusing between the function parameter and the filed name. The uses of "this" is for referencing the specific object in memory beacause we can have many other objects of the same class.

[@prasanthivasu]

thank you john. I got my concept clear. was confused in class.

[@clementinerose916]

I am learning java and this helps me a lot , thank you so much John

[@user-dc3rj1ty9v]

Really clear explanation, thank you so much!

[@gigachard5690]

Omg been fighting with Intellij to understand getters, setters and constructors and watching This was an instant 4 piece! Thank you!!!

[@AeV_artss]

grabe ka na johnny, you really know a lot of work, legend

[@jingyiwang5113]

Your explanation of the "this" keyword is crystal clear. After being stuck at this point for such a long time, it finally makes sense to me. I am really grateful for your help! I am in my second year of college and right now, struggling in a java class highlighting algorithms and data structures. I have also checked some of your other videos and will certainly watch more! Thanks!

[@darrenfrancis8126]

im in the same boat but i am building a calculator app and in the tutorial he used "this keyword in a different context. functionButtons[i].addActionListener(this);

[@josefiel6842]

Great video, the subject is so clearly explained. Amazing explanation, Thanks!!!

[@elfentsuki]

Excellent video, very clearly explained, also cool vibe. 10 out of 10. Thank you very much!

[@paladarsh39]

Great explanation. Addicted to your channel. Thanks for such a simple explanation

[@rubinconineski526]

It is very good. You speak very good. I understand almost everything 95 %. Thank you.

[@ayenoodles9068]

Thank you John! I’m a sophomore Software Engineer, and you explain things much clearer than my professor ✨

[@getyournekoshere9824]

@@jamesdrinkard687 what do you think assignments are in school? also, you think john never went to school? you sound like you're coping a bit.

[@Alstash]

Clear, pleasant, and understandable. Thank you!

[@s.a.806]

Very clear, thanks a lot!

[@matheuscastroks]

your the best teacher ive ever had, thank you

[@littlemissmuppet40]

Far better than the course i've paid good money for :) - Thanks very much!

[@isackcosta5660]

Good video! Helped me a lot.

[@Larfty]

Thank you so much for teaching this

[@YukinoK]

You're saving my Java studies. I am really grateful for your classes !

[@hikaru_e]

ong, he is crystal clear with what he explains and many times he answers questions I've been wondering about for quite some time

[@cshishir4582]

The tenth grade board exams are comming up and i think that this was a pretty informative video. I really like the efforts put by Sir John who is also teaching us for free unlike most of the cases (tutions example) where they charge tons of money for basic concepts. The plus point is that he is a really great teacher too. Sir i hope that you will continue to do this.

[@wallywild5088]

Plz keep doing this in just a couple months you’ve provided so much value

[@CodingWithJohn]

Been going for about a year now! But the first bunch of videos were much rougher for sure, so you're probably not wrong that the last couple months had some of the best stuff so far. 🙂

[@ColonelloRS]

Very well explained, thank you!

[@tellefsolberg5698]

Absolutely terrific videos!

[@catinsoop]

holy crap *this* actually makes sense now! I was trying to do something for a project in my comp sci class and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.(also apparently we were supposed to use "this." but it wasn't introduced until the next lesson which was stupid)

[@ukrainewarchannel5682]

Thanks a lot for your videos, they have been a godsend!

[@viniciuslima1185]

your videos are really helpful... much love from brasil!

[@jingothejumper]

This is wonderful, I finally understand how this works!

[@Roberto-lb5or]

Magnificent explanation as always. I got your bootcamp course at your web page

[@_Chad_ThunderCock]

your great teacher. I wish lecturers were half as good as you

[@mitmordag]

Great explanation! Thank you. I am looking forward to next videos

[@mk17173n]

I see what you did there with the dog named Kramer and the Kramer poster in the back. BTW your explanations are super easy to understand compared to other videos. Amazing work.

[@manikandansivakumar4077]

you give answer for every why I ask myself. Thanks

[@zehrairkicatal2156]

Perfectly it was explained Looking forward to next your video reference type and primitive type CASTING

[@fantasy9960]

THank you soooo much! Please continue creating your videos!!

[@jerrygord3131]

Thank you so much! This video completely made sense out of it.

[@yahyaking3250]

Thank you so much, it really helped

[@IluSsIoNnN]

I am just learning Java (from mechanical engineering, career switch) and your videos are great. Keep it up and Thank you !

[@CodingWithJohn]

Awesome, good luck on the career switch!

[@iliasettaoussi4680]

you are an amazing instructor

[@cetinarslan262]

Thank you. It was really clear. Good luck...

[@jam-yh9il]

Really great videos, thanks!

[@gulshanmustafayeva1707]

You are thee greatest explainer ever 🙂 thank uu

[@ceciliaw1065]

Finally understood this, thank u so much

[@jer5206]

These vids are gold ty!

[@SwarcMaster]

Keep doing great job, John. Thanks to you i can progress Helsinky MooC course like walk in a park.

[@CodingWithJohn]

Awesome! And thanks!

[@mckenziepictures]

1. This video was AWESOME! 2. Even more awesome, John listens to Rush! (R.I.P. Neil Ellwood Peart)

[@lemagamy]

great video thank you so much

[@meetbohra5415]

Thank-you John!

[@lofi_ish5613]

Thank you so much!

[@gunslinger7779]

Thank you so much for THIS video.

[@CodingWithJohn]

I almost added a counter to the video to show every time I said the word "this", I thought it would be hilarious. But then I thought it might have been too distracting. So you all can turn it into a drinking game instead.

[@tamingpaola]

this definitely helped me, im 11 weeks in my java cs class and needed to understand what the hell was going on with these constructors XD

[@uritaabdelmasih292]

You are amazing! Thanksss

[@paulgrossman8830]

John, are you a drummer? Just looking at your kit in the background. Thanks as always for the great videos.

[@jvsnyc]

Dang near perfect, and no, I don't have any complaint at all, except that in other languages some good developers felt that "this" was redundant in instance methods and should generally be avoided as noise (their approach was non-ideal when the natural name for a method parameter was the same as a data member, of course -- they would wind up having to munge those). On the theme of "I love how you do brief intros that don't overwhelm the learner with minor details without lying or teaching anything they will have to learn later" a very good book I am reading does just that. In a quest to prepare the reader for cert exams, they don't merely ignore stuff that isn't on the exam in that area, but actively make some misstatements that won't affect one's performance on the exam, but if you go beyond later, you will actively have to unlearn some "convenient lies" that they could have just ignored instead. It is a fine line, but you normally always land on the right side of it. There are extremely few "untrue statements" or "non-facts" found in your videos in service of making a good introduction. That is not easy to pull off, and I really appreciate it.

[@CodingWithJohn]

Thanks jvsnyc!

[@amiraliazimi6355]

Great! ❤️ I always watch your videos

[@CodingWithJohn]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoy them!

[@juliaineslopez4856]

I love all your videos! never stop making them!

[@IndellableHatesHandles]

I work in C#, and I swear Java is basically the same language with a different API. I feel like I'll be referring to your videos a lot while working on my CS Java course, though, since Java is different enough to cause some confusion.

[@Robert-jt9yg]

Great stuff

[@itsZahid22]

just helped me thanks

[@g33kyt]

ur a god!!! help me soooo much thank you so much

[@abdesamad6616]

This was a great explanation of the "this" keyword

[@atazky613]

Youre a f*cking magician John, i literally thought about refreshing my java constructor knowledge when you uploaded this video

[@CodingWithJohn]

Thanks! 🧙‍♂️ You may have seen it already, but I have another recent video with even more constructor info here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppilnGt-eJydmLc

[@zladtv1456]

Useful!

[@dsan6274]

Thank you again :)

[@ousmanetall1286]

My hope is you explain in details the differences between method and constructor, and the purposes

[@AshankMishra]

Awesome content

[@BoonkiCoC14]

His videos are so cracked. It's so beginner friendly.

[@martineden9888]

Thank you

[@Private-lw1td]

Awesome!

[@tarikelqari4702]

thank you so much, i was struggling with this "this" hahahahaha

[@ujeshnada5141]

this should be the first line in the constructor is the new thing i have learnt.

[@Berrybooo]

Ty so much

[@seifashraf2046]

I don't know how you make things this simple, suddenly I just understand it and idk how lol

[@aminegttabi2994]

you are the best ❤

[@PatrickTouma]

USE WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

[@Bennie.1010]

This

[@AlyssonTeixeira]

I think he's talking about the drums

[@pedroaboffa]

Make a video about creating a server and client with java pls !!!!!!!!! THANK U FOR ALL UR VIDEOS

[@ghettoslick2000]

Thanks

[@vickyg1877]

Bro awesome

[@micleh]

I'm so annoyed by the fact that here in Germany the government makes pupils use parameters prefixed with a 'p', which is why they'll never get in contact with the 'this' keyword, since there is never a conflict with the field names - I'll tell them, though, anyway. Your Dog constructor would therefore look like 'this': public Dog(String pName, int pAge). I think this is a relict from the time that the default language in higher education was Delphi and senior developers in the government didn't want to give up this parameter naming convention when they had to learn Java. Thanks again for the awesome content. I'll definitely recommend your videos to my students.

[@bolbans]

Does this channel have a video about Override?

[@user-lj9sq6lr5v]

Hi john, sorry for my question but I have a doubt. why do you prefer eclipse than Intellij as a IDE? if there are some advantage using one of them, which is you opinion about it ?

[@louiemunoz]

thanks

[@prasadmadusanka4876]

Great video, btw i like your IDE look and feel. Where did you get that?

[@CodingWithJohn]

Thanks! It's the Eclipse IDE, but with a plugin called Darkest Dark installed. Then I actually pick the IntelliJ dark color scheme, just cause I like it best.

[@prasadmadusanka4876]

Thanks John. Anyway I want to say this, your videos are clean and clear. Keep up the good work.