When does the Garbage Collector pick up an object?

I'm learning about Data Structures and Algorithms and I've started to make a doubly linked list. Here is some code that is supposed to remove a datatype from a given index:

Code:

---

public T removeFrom(int index) {
                DLNode<T> indexNode = this.find(index);
               
                T element = indexNode.getElement();
               
                indexNode.getNextNode().setPreviousNode(indexNode.getPreviousNode());
                indexNode.getPreviousNode().setNextNode(indexNode.getNextNode());
                               
                return element;
        }

---

How do I know when "indexNode" will be picked up by the garbage collector? Will it automatically be removed from memory after this code is run?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nolsen01

How do I know when "indexNode" will be picked up by the garbage collector? Will it automatically be removed from memory after this code is run?

---

You don't know when it will be garbage collected; all you know is that it wil be collected when needed. Don't think too much about garbage collection; most attempts to 'help' it work against it in practice.

kind regards,

Jos

I had similar question the other day, which i have enquired my lecturer about. From what I have found out I'd agree with:

Quote:

---

most attempts to 'help' it work against it in practice

---

However, it is possible to call the garbageCollector at the end of your code, I am not sure what sort of method it is tho.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FlyNn

I had similar question the other day, which i have enquired my lecturer about. From what I have found out I'd agree with:


However, it is possible to call the garbageCollector at the end of your code, I am not sure what sort of method it is tho.

---

No, all you can do is call System.gc() which is just a hint that you want the garbage collector to start running; it's up to the garbage collector to decide whether or not to actually run.

kind regards,

Jos

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JosAH

No, all you can do is call System.gc() which is just a hint that you want the garbage collector to start running; it's up to the garbage collector to decide whether or not to actually run.

kind regards,

Jos

---

Thanks for correcting me :) I guess if you run System.gc(), you at least asking the GC to consider cleaning up the stuff. Smart thing GC isnt it. Seems like they have a mind of their own hahaha.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FlyNn

Thanks for correcting me :) I guess if you run System.gc(), you at least asking the GC to consider cleaning up the stuff. Smart thing GC isnt it. Seems like they have a mind of their own hahaha.

---

Yup, as always when a computer program makes a decision we don't fully understand we assume it's either a bug or artificial intelligence. When the gc 'sees' it still has free memory enough it won't go through the trouble of collecting memory; quite clever indeed, human beings always consider trade-offs like that.

kind regards,

Jos