What problems does using an integer pool solve?

The Integer Pool in Java is a caching mechanism for Integer class objects for frequently used values, typically in the range from -128 to 127.

Tasks and benefits of using the pool:

• Memory savings: instead of creating new objects for frequently used numbers, an existing object from the pool is returned.
• Performance improvement: reducing the number of created objects decreases the load on the garbage collector.
• Comparison optimization: objects from the pool can be compared by reference (==), which is faster than comparing values.

Example:

Integer a = 100;
Integer b = 100;
System.out.println(a == b); // true, because both are from the pool

Integer c = 200;
Integer d = 200;
System.out.println(c == d); // false, because new objects are created outside the pool