When should I use “this” in a class?

Question

I know that this refers to a current object. But I do not know when I really need to use it. For example, will be there any difference if I use x i

Answer 1

this is useful in the builder pattern.

public class User {

    private String firstName;
    private String surname;

    public User(Builder builder){
        firstName = builder.firstName;
        surname = builder.surname;
    }

    public String getFirstName(){
        return firstName;
    }

    public String getSurname(){
        return surname;
    }

    public static class Builder {
        private String firstName;
        private String surname;

        public Builder setFirstName(String firstName) {
            this.firstName = firstName;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder setSurname(String surname) {
            this.surname = surname;
            return this;
        }

        public User build(){
            return new User(this);
        }

    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        User.Builder builder = new User.Builder();
        User user = builder.setFirstName("John").setSurname("Doe").build();
    }

}