Reference no: EM13168213

Scope and lifetime are distinct yet related issues in programming languages. Languages can sometimes make design decisions that cause a conflict between the scope and the lifetime of variables. Java's decision to allow classes to be defined inside a method illustrates this conflict. Consider the following example:

class AnonymousInnerClassInMethod
{
          public static void main(String[] args)
          {
                int local = 1;

               Comparable compare = new Comparable ()
                      {
                              public int compareTo(Object value)
                                    {
                                         return (Integer)value - local;
                                    }
                      };
                     System.out.println(compare.compareTo(5));
           }
}

Why does this code fail to compile? Explain the reason behind this failure in terms of scope and lifetime.