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Message:
Letting go of all references
Posted by Bill Venners on 02 Sep 1998, 5:14 PM
> I think your example should talk about the
> remove() and the implications for
> garbage collection (gc). Novice java programmers tend to
> treat gc as magical. Most new users understand to
> instantiate a listener object, then register this object
> via remove<>(). The danger is that once they are done with
> this object they may just let it go assuming it will be
> gc'ed. Unless they invoke remove<>() their object will
> never be gc'ed because the event generator's Vector will
> contain a reference to the object. >
>
> For simple examples like the one in you JavaWorld article
> in which your Person and AnsweringMachine objects never
> call removeTelephoneListener() it's not an issue because
> the program ends right away. But there could be cases in
> which the program is long-lived, but many listener objects
> come and go. If the programmer does not explicitly invoke
> the appropriate remove<>() method, their program will use
> more and more memory. >
>
> It's an interaction between the java gc and the 'event
> generator' idiom that novice programmers might miss.
The forgotten about listeners will not only not get GC'd, but
they'll keep on receiving events, so they might be doing things
that cause more harm than just occupying memory. I think
it is worth having a guideline that says make sure you
get rid of objects you no longer need, so they can be
garbage collected. This seems obvious, but as you say, it
may be non-intuitive to novice programmers exactly how
objects are being referenced.
bv
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