Unreachable objects during Garbage Collection

Objects in Java are always allocated on the heap. The heap is an area of memory that is used for dynamically allocated memory, such as objects. In Java, objects are allocated in a program and then released by the JVM. This release of memory is called garbage collection and performed automatically by the JVM. An application has little control over this process. The primary benefit of this technique is the minimization of memory leaks. A memory leak occurs when memory is dynamically allocated but is never released. This has been a common problem with languages such as C and C++, where it is the responsibility of the programmer to manage the heap. A memory leak can still occur in Java if an object is allocated but the reference to the object is never released when the object is no longer needed.

During the course of a program's execution, it is possible for objects used by the program to become inaccessible to the program. These objects are referred to as unreachable objects. ^[1] For example, in the following program, the Vector object created in line 5 becomes unreachable at line 9 because it is no longer referenced by any program variables.

import java.util.*;
public class GarbageExample {
 static Vector<String> v1, v2;
  public static void main(String[] args) {
   v1 = new Vector<String>(); // line 5
   v2 = new Vector<String>();
   v1.addElement("this");
   v2.addElement("that");
   v1 = v2;
   System.out.println(v1.elementAt(0));
 }
}
/* 
Program Output 
that
*/

When an object becomes unreachable, it is no longer used by the program and becomes eligible for garbage collection^[2].
The Java runtime system uses a process known as garbage collection to recover the memory used by unreachable objects. The Java garbage collector consists of a background thread that is executed by the JVM. This thread monitors the objects that are used by Java programs and identifies when objects become unreachable. When the garbage collector^[3] finds an unreachable object, it uses the following process to free the resources used by the object:

The garbage collector is subject to the thread scheduling algorithm of the local operating system, and its actual operation is non-deterministic. This means that you cannot predict the following:

1. When or if the garbage collector will execute
2. When or if the garbage collector will identify an object as unreachable
3. When or if an object will be garbage collected

Non-deterministic: Cannot be predicted or determined.

[1] Unreachable object: An object that is no longer accessible to a program.

[2] Eligible for garbage collection: An object that is unreachable is eligible to be destroyed and have its resources reclaimed by the garbage collector.

[3] Garbage collection: The process by which the memory occupied by unreachable objects is reclaimed.