Question

What does Java automatic garbage collection do?

a) Manually deallocates memory
b) Identifies and frees up unreferenced objects
c) Creates new objects automatically
d) Optimizes code execution speed

Answer 1

Java automatic garbage collection is a process that identifies and frees up unreferenced objects in memory. It does this automatically, without the need for manual memory deallocation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Java automatic garbage collection is a process that identifies and frees up unreferenced objects in memory. It does this automatically, without the need for manual memory deallocation. When an object in Java is no longer referenced by any variables, the garbage collector identifies it and frees up the memory it was occupying.

For example, consider the following code snippet:
String example = new String("Hello world!");
example = null;

In this code, after the second line, the object "Hello world!" is no longer referenced by the variable 'example'. The garbage collector can then identify this object and free up the memory it was occupying, ensuring efficient memory usage.