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JDK-8225667: Clarify the behavior of System::gc w.r.t. reference processing #183

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JDK-8225667: Clarify the behavior of System::gc w.r.t. reference processing #183

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JDK-8225667: Clarify the behavior of System::gc w.r.t. reference proc…
mlchung Jun 30, 2021
020a2d7
Kim's suggestion on the wording
mlchung Jun 30, 2021
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4 changes: 4 additions & 0 deletions src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/Runtime.java
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Expand Up @@ -655,6 +655,10 @@ public Process exec(String[] cmdarray, String[] envp, File dir)
* There is no guarantee that this effort will recycle any particular
* number of unused objects, reclaim any particular amount of space, or
* complete at any particular time, if at all, before the method returns or ever.
* There is also no guarantee that this effort will determine
* the change of reachability in any particular number of objects,
* or that any particular number of {@link java.lang.ref.Reference Reference}
* objects will be cleared and enqueued.
* <p>
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Hi Mandy,
I'm not a native speaker so this might be wrong thinking: The word "determine" feels to me like saying "cause". But running System.gc never actually causes the change of reachability (well it does, when the Reference object is cleared, the reachability of referent changes from Weakly/Softly/Phantom-reachable to unreachable, but I don't think you had that in mind. Or did you?). What would you say about using word "detect" instead? Please others, do say if my thinking is wrong...

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Well, "determine" seems to have both meanings:
https://www.google.com/search?q=determine
So by the 2nd meaning, it is good.

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@plevart plevart Jul 2, 2021 •
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... and considering the "Schrödinger's cat", even the 1st interpretation is correct. You can't know whether the cat is dead or not until you "determine" it's death. This does not mean that you killed it though.

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I think "determine" sounds right to me. "detect" is another possibility but does not apply well in "this effort" as the subject. This is another way to explain it.

During the execution, there are a number of reachability decision points. At each reachability decision point, the references are checked. GC determines if the reachability of the referent has changed to the value corresponding to the type of the reference (softly weakly, or phantom reachable), then it clears and enqueues the reference.

* The name {@code gc} stands for "garbage
* collector". The Java Virtual Machine performs this recycling
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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/System.java
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Expand Up @@ -1861,6 +1861,11 @@ public static void exit(int status) {
* There is no guarantee that this effort will recycle any particular
* number of unused objects, reclaim any particular amount of space, or
* complete at any particular time, if at all, before the method returns or ever.
* There is also no guarantee that this effort will determine
* the change of reachability in any particular number of objects,
* or that any particular number of {@link java.lang.ref.Reference Reference}
* objects will be cleared and enqueued.
*
* <p>
* The call {@code System.gc()} is effectively equivalent to the
* call:
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