Calls and frames

Method calls add one rule to your table: each call gets its own frame — its own row block for parameters and locals — and returns exactly one value to the exact spot it was called from.

public static int twist(int n) {
    n = n + 3;
    return n * 2;
}

Trace x = 5; then x = twist(x);:

1. Call twist(5): new frame, n = 5.
2. n = n + 3 → 8. Return 8 * 2 = 16.
3. Frame dies. Assignment: x = 16.

What does not happen: the method cannot see or change the caller's x. Primitives are copied. The classic exam probe:

public static void bump(int n) { n = n + 1; }
// ...
int x = 7;
bump(x);
System.out.println(x);   // 7 — the copy was changed, not x

References behave differently: the reference is copied, but both copies point at the same object.

public static void grow(int[] arr) { arr[0] = arr[0] + 10; }
// ...
int[] data = {1, 2};
grow(data);
System.out.println(data[0]);   // 11 — the shared object changed

So the table rule is: parameter = a copy of the value. For primitives the value is the number; for objects the value is the arrow to the object. Draw the arrow when in doubt.