Threads question from MindQ

[Rekha Sivadasan]

Which of the following statements about Java's garbage collection are true?
a) The garbage collector can be invoked explicitly using a Runtime object.
b) The finalize method is always called before an object is garbage collected.
c) Any class that includes a finalize method should invoke its superclass' finalize method.
d) Garbage collection behavior is very predictable.
The correct answer given is a, b,c.
I consider only b to be correct. Can someone please throw some light on this.
Thanks
Rekha

[Rekha Sivadasan]

Sorry this is not a threads question as mentioned in the title. Its gc.

[Hima Mangal]

hi Rekha..
i think a,b,c all are correct..
a) i think u are confusing it with the fact that garbage collector cannot be forced to run explicitly whereas what the sentence says is that it is possible to invoke it explicitly, which can be done through either System.gc() or Runtime.gc(). That's why it is true.
c) any class which writes its own version of finalize() has to invoke the superclass's finalize() method so that the object can be disposed of cleanly.
hope this helps.
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Hima

[Rekha Sivadasan]

ok cool. Thanks Hima for clearing the confusion.
Rekha