Can Java keywords be used as variable names?

Can Java keywords be used as variable names?

• A. Yes
• B. No
• C. Sometimes
• D. Only in comments

Answer: (B)

Keywords are reserved words in Java that have specific meaning in the language’s syntax. Identifiers—the names you use for variables, methods, or fields—must be distinct from those reserved words. Allowing a keyword to be used as a variable name would blur the line between the language’s syntax and user-defined names, making code harder to read and parse consistently. The compiler enforces this by rejecting any attempt to name a variable with a keyword, even if you try tricks like Unicode escapes, because those escapes are resolved before tokenization and would produce the actual keyword in the code. So you should always choose an identifier that isn’t a reserved keyword.

Keywords are reserved words in Java that have specific meaning in the language’s syntax. Identifiers—the names you use for variables, methods, or fields—must be distinct from those reserved words. Allowing a keyword to be used as a variable name would blur the line between the language’s syntax and user-defined names, making code harder to read and parse consistently. The compiler enforces this by rejecting any attempt to name a variable with a keyword, even if you try tricks like Unicode escapes, because those escapes are resolved before tokenization and would produce the actual keyword in the code. So you should always choose an identifier that isn’t a reserved keyword.