Question

A program creates 10 instances of the coin class. How many exist in memory?

Short answer

Answer: 10 instances exist in memory after creating 10 instances of the coin class.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding class instances and memory storage

When a new instance of a class is created, that instance is stored in an area of the computer's memory. Each instance has its own memory address, and all instances of the same class are stored independently. So when 10 instances of the coin class are created, each of these instances has its own unique memory address, and they all exist in the memory.

Define what "exist in memory" means

To say that an instance "exists in memory" means that the computer has allocated memory for that instance and is holding its data (e.g., its properties and methods) in memory. Typically, as long as a variable reference or pointer points to the memory location of the instance, it is considered to be existing in memory. Once all references to an instance are removed, the instance may be subject to garbage collection (depending on the programming language), which means its memory may be reclaimed by the system.

Determine the number of instances existing in memory

Since the program creates 10 instances of the coin class, and each instance is stored independently in memory, the answer is that 10 instances of the coin class exist in memory after creating 10 instances.