I am not sure if the "new" keyword is needed here in this case, I'm pretty new to Java

private String editDistOne(String inputWord){

Node x;

x = (some function that returns a Node object);

can I now use the variable "x" as I would any other node object? Or do I need to say "Node x = new node" at the top?


}

the `new` keyword creates a new object. since your function is retrieving (possibly also creating) your object, the `new` keyword is not needed here. it's probably inside that function somewhere down the rabbit hole.



there is no need to do that if you're assigning x to hold another object later prior to using it.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Jul 3 2016 11:48am

Thanks a ton man, that completely answers my question. Cheers