Mastering Java: The Ultimate Quiz for 'Thinking in Java'

What does a final field mean in the context of Java objects?

1. To improve performance

2. To prevent it from being subclassed

3. To make all methods static

4. To make the class abstract

The correct answer is: To improve performance

It is not correct to make a Java class final just to improve performance, as performance is not affected by it being a final class. Similarly, it is not necessary to make all methods static just to make the class final. Making the class abstract would prevent it from being instantiated, but it would still be possible to create subclasses. The correct reason for making a Java class final is to prevent it from being subclassed, which may be necessary if the class is not designed to be extended or modified by other developers.