OpenJDK's LinkedBlockingQueue implementation: Node class and GC [duplicate]

Answer 1

I asked Professor Doug Lea, author of the code, and he said that it reduces the chances of GC leaving floating garbage.

Some useful resources on floating garbage:

http://www.memorymanagement.org/glossary/f.html#floating.garbage

http://java.sun.com/docs/hotspot/gc1.4.2/#4.4.4.%20Floating%20Garbage|outline

http://blog.johantibell.com/2010/04/generational-garbage-collection-and.html