Re: finalize()

So Bloch says its a mistake to use finalize to manage system resources, but its a good idea to use it as a "safety net", which is what I guess you are advocating. It occurs to me that java.io.RandomAcccesFile probably closes itself in the finalizer, just like FileInputStream. I wonder why linux behaves differently? 

Bob Simons wrote:
> I looked in the source code for the java.io.FileInputStream (as an 
> example) to see if Java's file classes use the finalize() method.  They do.
>
>     /**
>      * Ensures that the <code>close</code> method of this file input 
> stream is
>      * called when there are no more references to it.
>      *
>      * @exception  IOException  if an I/O error occurs.
>      * @see        java.io.FileInputStream#close()
>      */
>     protected void finalize() throws IOException {
>     if (fd != null) {
>         if (fd != fd.in) {
>         close();
>         }
>     }
>     }
>
> So I don't yet know what Josh Bloch's book says specifically, but Sun 
> uses the finalize method in the actual Java code.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Bob Simons
> Satellite Data Product Manager
> Environmental Research Division
> NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
> 1352 Lighthouse Ave
> Pacific Grove, CA 93950-2079
> (831)648-0272
> address@hidden
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