Dúvida Gargage Collector

1. Given:
   1. class CardBoard {
   3. Short story = 200;
   4. CardBoard go (CardBoard cb) {

   5. cb=null;
      

   6. return cb;
      

   7. }
   9. public static void main (String[] args) {

3. CardBoard c1 = new CardBoard();
   

4. CardBoard c2 = new CardBoard();
   

5. CardBoard c3 = c1.go(c2);
   

6. c1 = null;
   

7. // do stuff;
   

8. }
9. }

When //do stuff is reached, how many objects are eligible for GC [garbage collection]?

A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. Compilation fails
E. It is not possible to know
F. An exception is thrown at runtime

Answer:

C is correct. Only one CardBoard object (c1) is eligible, but it has an associated Short wrapper object that is also eligible.

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Eu imaginava que seria letra B. Por que o objeto Short passa ser elegível se ele ainda tem tem a referencia dele? Desde já agradeço