title: Can a Java method have more than 255 local variables?
body: <p>The <code>iload</code> Java opcode is used to push a value from the local variable array (LVA) onto the operand stack.</p>
  
  <p>This opcode takes a single byte as a parameter (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_bytecode_instruction_listings" rel="noreferrer">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_bytecode_instruction_listings</a>), which serves as an index  for the LVA.</p>
  
  <p>If one element of the LVA is always the reference to the object (I guess this isn't the case for static methods, but lets ignore those for now), and if exactly one byte is used as an index (256 possible values), then how can a method have access to more than 255 different local variables?</p>