Question

C# supports disposable pattern for deterministic garbage collection using the dispose pattern.

Is there such pattern for java?

Java 7 has autoclosable, which you can use with try finally blocks to invoke the close method.

What about versions prior to 7?

Is there a disposable pattern (deterministic garbage collection) for Java 5 or 6?

Answer 1

The closest prior to Java 7 is just “manual” try/finally blocks:

FileInputStream input = new FileInputStream(...);
try {
  // Use input
} finally {
  input.close();
}

The using statement was one of the things I found nicest about C# when I first started using C# 1.0 from a Java background. It’s good to see it finally in Java 7 🙂

You should also consider Closeables in Guava – it allows you to not worry about whether or not a reference is null (just like a using statement does) and optionally “logs and swallows” exceptions thrown when closing, to avoid any such exception from effectively “overwriting” an exception thrown from the try block.