Question

Consider the following segment of code:

function loadSomeContent()
{
    URLLoader loader = new URLLoader("http://www.somesite.com/");

    loader.addEventListner("onLoadComplete", loadCompleteHandler);

    loader.sendHttpRequest();
}

function loadCompleteHandler(event)
{
    log("Load response received");
}

Do not worry about the syntax of this code.

Here is my concern – The loader object which is used to send the HTTP request and which has the onLoadComplete event registered to is not referenced from outside the loadSomeContent() function. Is there a possibility that the loader object will be garbage collected and loadCompleteHandler() will never be called?

Answer 1

When you call loader.sendHttpRequest() a new thread is created that will actually send the request in the background. This thread keeps a reference to the loader so that it can call the load complete function when the load is finished. As a result the loader will always be referenced by some thread, just not the thread you’re in right now.