I thought this was interesting… In Java, a block scoped variable may conflict with a local variable declared later in method scope, but not previously (as shown below):

class A{
  public static void main(String args[]){
    {int k = 5;}
    int k = 12; //this is OK
    {int k = 22;}//this is not....
  }
}

This is not the same as C++ where this compiles happily:

int main(){
  {int i;}
  int i;
  {int i;}
  return 0;
}

Usually C++ has the more obscure behavior….

I just noticed that java enums allow protected member variables and methods. Why is this interesting? Can you think of any code that might actually make use of a protected member in an enum (as opposed to private)? Example after the jump (warning, not practical…).
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Providing a robust, maintainable, and interactive interface to your C/C++ application can be a challenge, but I’ve found that a combination of SWIG, Java, and JRuby (or Jython if you prefer) makes for a very powerful combination.
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