> Java calls references, works more like C/C++ pointer, rather than C++ reference
What makes you say this? You can't do pointer arithmetic on Java references, and the internal memory model is completely obscured. C++ and Java references look similar to and are accessed like variables. The major difference is that Java references can be reassigned, like a pointer, which is necessary in a language without true pointers.
Java references are closer to C++ references than anything else. They're like pointers until you access/call them, at which point they're just objects. C++ references are identical, but the syntax is a bit more explicit.
It is a funny language feature to have when you think about it; it just so happens to be useful. References and pointers are distinct in languages that have both (C++), so not mixing the terms between languages is helpful. If Java programmers started referring to their variables as "pointers," because internally, that's more representative of what they are, I'd be a bit irked.
I would actively avoid that, but only because it confuses me.
That syntax loosely implies that removing the second d assignment would allow me to create new-but-altered dogs with alterDog(Dog), which isn't the case. If I wanted to use assignments like that, I would try to go fully immutable with factory methods that help me make slightly different, new dogs on the fly, and return them.
I'd wager that Spotify is nearing the point at which - if not already there - record labels cannot afford to revoke their license. If they can get away with it, they'll try to push some buttons, but I doubt a full confrontation.
If there's any evidence against this, please let me know. I think it's interesting.
Why serious breaches of trust such as this don't immediately receive outside, completely foreign, third party (all of it!) investigation is beyond me. None of this should be news - it should be implied. For the same reasons PDs shouldn't "investigate" their own abuses.
Considering most search queries are simple and apolitical, I feel the argument "tailoring search results is less dangerous than curating a news feed" has some merit.
That aside, if you use Google as your main news outlet, all that goes out the window.
Am I correct in assuming you can only recurse when the recursion can be "unrolled" into a simple loop? In other words, no program flow structures.