Name: dbT83986 Date: 02/25/99


With JDK 1.2 the RunFinalizersOnExit method has been deprecated. The javadoc annotation says that RFOE can cause the
wrong objects to be finalized and can hang the JVM. It is unclear from this annotation whether the method was faultily
implemented in previous JDKs or that the idea of guaranteed finalization is itself unimplementable.

The ability to guaranteee eventual finalization is essential for creating totally robust systems. This method played a very
important role in systems developed in JDK 1.1. Quite apart from losing this vital feature, what of backwards compatability?

If fixable, please place RunFinalizersOnExit back in the language.
(See 'Helping Objects to a Tidy End', Java Report, Nov 1998)
(Review ID: 43489)
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