Is there a destructor for Java?

Question

Is there a destructor for Java? I don\'t seem to be able to find any documentation on this. If there isn\'t, how can I achieve the same effect?

To make my question m

Answer 1

Have a look at the try-with-resources statement. For example:

try (BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(path))) {
  System.out.println(br.readLine());
} catch (Exception e) {
  ...
} finally {
  ...
}

Here the resource that is no longer needed is freed in the BufferedReader.close() method. You can create your own class that implements AutoCloseable and use it in a similar fashion.

This statement is more limited than finalize in terms of code structuring, but at the same time it makes the code simpler to understand and maintain. Also, there is no guarantee that a finalize method is called at all during the livetime of the application.

Answer 2

Though there have been considerable advancements in Java's GC technology, you still need to be mindful of your references. Numerous cases of seemingly trivial reference patterns that are actually rats nests under the hood come to mind.

From your post it doesn't sound like you're trying to implement a reset method for the purpose of object reuse (true?). Are your objects holding any other type of resources that need to be cleaned up (i.e., streams that must be closed, any pooled or borrowed objects that must be returned)? If the only thing you're worried about is memory dealloc then I would reconsider my object structure and attempt to verify that my objects are self contained structures that will be cleaned up at GC time.

Answer 3

If you're writing a Java Applet, you can override the Applet "destroy()" method. It is...

 * Called by the browser or applet viewer to inform
 * this applet that it is being reclaimed and that it should destroy
 * any resources that it has allocated. The stop() method
 * will always be called before destroy().

Obviously not what you want, but might be what other people are looking for.

Answer 4

The finalize() function is the destructor.

However, it should not be normally used because it is invoked after the GC and you can't tell when that will happen (if ever).

Moreover, it takes more than one GC to deallocate objects that have finalize().

You should try to clean up in the logical places in your code using the try{...} finally{...} statements!

Answer 5

With Java 1.7 released, you now have the additional option of using the try-with-resources block. For example,

public class Closeable implements AutoCloseable {
    @Override
    public void close() {
        System.out.println("closing..."); 
    }
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try (Closeable c = new Closeable()) {
            System.out.println("trying..."); 
            throw new Exception("throwing..."); 
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println("catching..."); 
        }
        finally {
            System.out.println("finalizing..."); 
        } 
    }
}

If you execute this class, c.close() will be executed when the try block is left, and before the catch and finally blocks are executed. Unlike in the case of the finalize() method, close() is guaranteed to be executed. However, there is no need of executing it explicitly in the finally clause.

Answer 6

Perhaps you can use a try ... finally block to finalize the object in the control flow at which you are using the object. Of course it doesn't happen automatically, but neither does destruction in C++. You often see closing of resources in the finally block.