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Core Java - Interview Questions and Answers for 'Garbage collection' - 26 question(s) found - Order By Rating

 Q1. Which memory segment is cleaned by Garbage Collection - stack or heap ?Core Java
Ans. Heap as objects are stored ink heap.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     memory management   stack  heap  garbage collection


 Q2. What is a weak reference ?Core Java
Ans. A weak reference is a reference that gets removed on the next garbage collection cycle.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     weak reference  garbage collection     Asked in 1 Companies        rare


 Q3. Which objects are eligible for garbage collection ?Core Java
Ans. Objects that have lost their reference i.e. they cannot be accessed/used by the program anymore.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     garbage collection     Asked in 1 Companies      basic


 Q4. Let's suppose we have an to destroy objects, Design a program to implement garbage collection ?Design
Ans. Step 1 - We can create a Registry Class having Map of all created objects as key and References list as value.

Step 2 - Whenever we create an object , we should update the Registry in the constructor to add the new object.

Step 3 - Whenever we assign a new reference to the object , we need to update the entry in Map. Similarly if the reference get's removed ( end of scope etc ), we need to remove the entry of reference from the list.

Step 4 - We can have threaded code to monitor the Map to see if any object looses all it's references and should call the method to destroy object and clean the memory.

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 Q5. In Java, would you like to see an explicit destructor?Core Java
Ans. Yes , a gc method to explicitly call garbage collection immediately on the object. It will provide better flexibility over application that require optimal usage of memory.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     destructor  garbage collection     Asked in 1 Companies      expert


 Q6. What happens when you assign a pre initialized reference some other object ?Core Java
Ans. Now the reference points to a new object in memory. If that was the only reference for the previous object , it will be marked for garbage collection.

Foe example -

Object obj = new Object();
obj = new Object();

object created in first line will be eligible for garbage collection after line 2 as it looses all it's handlers.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     references  objects  garbage collection     Asked in 1 Companies


 Q7. Java doesn't provide exclusive access to memory like C/C++ and other lower level languages ? What are the advantanges and disadvantages ?Core Java
Ans. Yes, doesn't provide exclusive access as we cannot allocate and deallocate memory exclusively as Java internally manages it. The advantage of this is that it relieves the coder for such tasks and helps protect from many bugs that may get introduced with imperfect coding. Moreover as java garbage collector collects all unclaimed memory or objects, it helps the application from memory leaks.

On the flip side , as coder doesn't have extensive excess to memory , it is upto java to decide on the state for programming construct and data storage and hence may introduce some security risks. For example - Java keeps string literals in string pool and there is no exclusive way to remove it and hence may stay and sensitive data in string pool may introduce security issues. Moreover when we overwrite a value or object for a variable / reference, it is upto java to purge those values and hence it may stay in memory for a while till java decide that it is no longer referenced and hence should be removed and hence makes it vulnerable for inappropriate access.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     disadvantages of garbage collection  advantages and disadvantages of java memory management  java for security applications  java with sensitive data  memory management


 Q8. When does an object cleaned or destroyed by garbage collection ?Core Java
Ans. When it is no longer referenced or it looses all references which were earlier pointing to it.

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 Q9. How can we destroy an object ? Core Java
Ans. We cannot explicitly initiate destruction of an object as no destroy method is available in java. Only Garbage collection can destroy an object.

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 Q10. How is garbage collection in Java 8 different from Java 7 ? Core Java
 This question is still unanswered. Can you please provide an answer.


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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     memory management  garbage collection


 Q11. Why do we need Garbage collection ?Core Java
Ans. Garbage collection mechanism frees up the memory that is no longer needed. In languages like C / C++ the deallocation needs to be done explicitly by the programmer and hence any leniency may result in memory leak. Garbage collection in java ensures that all unused memory is reclaimed and hence there are no memory leaks.Moreover it relieves the programmer from the hassle of carefully releasing all memory.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     Garbage Collection  memory management     Asked in 2 Companies


 Q12. Why don't Java objects have destructors ?Core Java
Ans. Java manages memory using built-in garbage collector

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 Q13. What is memory leak ? How Java helps countering memory leaks compared to C++ ?Core Java
Ans. Memory Leak is a situation wherein we have a reserved memory location but the program has lost its reference and hence has no way to access it.

Java doesn't have concept of Pointers, Moreover Java has concept of Garbage collection that frees up space in heap that has lost its references.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     memory leak  garbage collection      intermediate        frequent


 Q14. What kind of thread is garbage collection thread ?Core Java
Ans. Daemon thread

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 Q15. Which type of memory is cleaned / recovered by garbage collection - stack or heap ?Core Java
Ans. Heap memory.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     memory management  stack  heap  garbage collection     Asked in 2 Companies


 Q16. Does garbage collection guarantee that a program will not run out of memory?Core Java
Ans. Garbage collection does not guarantee that a program will not run out of memory. It is possible for programs to use up memory resources faster than they are garbage collected. It is also possible for programs to create objects that are not subject to garbage collection

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     java   garbage collection   java memory management   advanced     Asked in 2 Companies

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Advanced level question usually asked in High end product companies. Have been asked in Google and Amazon (Based on 1 Feedback)
  Q17. Describe, in general, how java's garbage collector works ?Core Java
Ans. The Java runtime environment deletes objects when it determines that they are no longer being used. This process is known as garbage collection. The Java runtime environment supports a garbage collector that periodically frees the memory used by objects that are no longer needed. The Java garbage collector is a mark-sweep garbage collector that scans Java dynamic memory areas for objects, marking those that are referenced. After all possible paths to objects are investigated, those objects that are not marked (i.e. are not referenced) are known to be garbage and are collected.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     java   garbage collection   java memory management   advanced     Asked in 21 Companies      intermediate        frequent

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 Q18. What is a finalize method ?Core Java
Ans. finalize() method is called just before an object is destroyed.

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 Q19. Should we override finalize method ?
Ans. Finalize is used by Java for Garbage collection. It should not be done as we should leave the Garbage Collection to Java itself.

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 Q20. What are strong, soft, weak and phantom references in Java ?Core Java
Ans. Garbage Collector wont remove a strong reference.

A soft reference will only get removed if memory is low.

A weak reference will get removed on the next garbage collection cycle.

A phantom reference will be finalized but the memory will not be reclaimed. Can be useful when you want to be notified that an object is about to be collected.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     java   memory management   jvm   garbage collections   references   strong reference   soft reference   weak reference   phantom reference   architecture     Asked in 2 Companies


Usually asked only to fresh graduates and less experienced developers.
  Q21. What is a daemon thread? Give an Example ?
Ans. These are threads that normally run at a low priority and provide a basic service to a program or programs when activity on a machine is reduced. garbage collector thread is daemon thread.

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 Q22. Can we call the garbage collector explicitly ?Core Java
Ans. Yes, We can call garbage collector directly but it doesn't guarantees that the gc will start executing immediately. This gc( ) method appears in both Runtime and System classes of java.lang package.

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Asked multiple times in Capgemini.
 Q23. Why Char array is preferred over String for storing password?Core Java
Ans. String is immutable in java and stored in String pool. Once it's created it stays in the pool until unless garbage collected, so even though we are done with password it's available in memory for longer duration and there is no way to avoid it. It's a security risk because anyone having access to memory dump can find the password as clear text.

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   Like         Discuss         Correct / Improve     java   string class   string   immutable  immutability   string pool   garbage collection   advanced     Asked in 6 Companies      Expert


 Q24. What does String intern() method do?Core Java
Ans. intern() method keeps the string in an internal cache that is usually not garbage collected.

Moreover provide reference for scp object for corresponding string object present in heap memory.

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 Q25. Difference between HashMap and WeakHashMap ?
Ans. WeakHashMap uses weak reference for keys, which means if the key object doesn't have any reference then both key/value mapping will become eligible for garbage collection.

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  Q26. What is a Destructor ? Do we have Destructors in Java ?Core Java
Ans. Destructor is used to de-allocate memory allocated by objects.

There are no destructors in Java. Alternatively, Java provides Automatic garbage collection i.e automatically releasing the un-referenced memory.

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 Q27. Which of the following methods are used by Java Garbage Collection Mechanism ?Core Java
a. final
b. finally
c. finalize
d. All of the above

Ans.c. finalize

 Q28. Which of the following about Garbage collection is false ?Core Java
a. We can call Garbage collection explicitly
b. Garbage Collection guarantees that the application will not run out of memory
c. finalize method is used by Java for Garbage Collection
d. Garbage Collection Mechanism delete unclaimed objects that are no longer required

Ans.b. Garbage Collection guarantees that the application will not run out of memory

 Q29. What kind of thread is Garbage collection thread ?Core Java
a. Daemon Thread
b. User Thread
c. System Thread
d. Active Thread

Ans.a. Daemon Thread

 Q30. Which of following memory segment is cleaned by Garbage Collection Mechanism ?Core Java
a. Stack
b. Heap
c. Code
d. Cache

Ans.b. Heap


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