On Jul 20, 2007, at 11:58, Jeremias Maerki wrote:
Read again: "Implementation note: The value objects in a
WeakHashMap are
held by ordinary strong references." That means that all the object in
there can never be released since there never be only a weak reference
to the object there.
Right, but the value objects are not the issue. As long as the key
can be released, and the value does not refer directly or indirectly
back to the key, there is no problem. What the Javadoc warns about is
the situation where value /refers back/ to the key in some way or
other: most simple case would be that the value object is composite
and has an instance member that is itself the key object. In that
case, the entry will never be released, unless the value itself is
wrapped in a WeakReference.
FWIW: I had the same initial reservations, but re-reading the
Javadoc, it occurred to me that this was actually no problem at all.
Cheers
Andreas
