Keyword indicating the current instance of a class.
A pointer to the object instance on whose behalf the current method is executing. Not all methods have a this pointer. Static methods in C#, for example, do not have a this pointer.
A keyword used as an abbreviation for the current object. For example, this.form might be an abbreviation for document.surveyForm
refers, in a case where it isn't obvious, to the current object; can be used only inside a method. When it is obvious, the compiler does not need this, the method may simply be called. class Apricot { void pick() { ... }; void pit() { pick(); // no need for this.pick()... ... } } public class Leaf { int i = 0; Leaf increment() { i++; return this; } ...
A Java keyword that can be used to represent an instance of the class in which it appears. this can be used to access class variables and methods.
A C++ keyword that identifies a special type of pointer in a member function, one that references the class object with which the member function was invoked.
reference to current object
"This" is usually a reserved word in OO languages. It is used by an object to refer to itself.
Within an instance method or constructor of a class, this refers to "this object"--the instance currently being operated on. It is useful to refer to an instance variable of the class that has been shadowed by a local variable or method argument. It is also useful to pass the current object as an argument to static methods or methods of other classes. There is one additional use of this: when it appears as the first statement in a constructor method, it refers to one of the other constructors of the class.
In many object-oriented programming languages, this (or self) is a keyword which can be used in instance methods to refer to the object on which the currently executing method has been invoked. C++, and programming languages which derive from it (such as Java, Python, and C#) generally use the keyword this, whereas Smalltalk and its progeny prefer the keyword self. The Self programming language is named after this use of "self".