Typical memory leak problems and solutions in Java

Q: how can memory leaks occur in Java?
A: there are many reasons for memory leaks in Java. A typical example is one that does not implement hasCode and
The case where the Key class of the equals method is saved in a HashMap. You end up with a lot of duplicate objects. All memory leaks
The OutOfMemoryError exception will be thrown at the end, and the memory leak will be simulated by an infinite loop for a short time
Let me give you an example.

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class MemoryLeak {

 public static void main(String[] args) {
  Map<Key, String> map = new HashMap<Key, String>(1000);

  int counter = 0;
  while (true) {
       // creates duplicate objects due to bad Key class
   map.put(new Key("dummyKey"), "value");
   counter++;
   if (counter % 1000 == 0) {
    System.out.println("map size: " + map.size());
    System.out.println("Free memory after count " + counter
      + " is " + getFreeMemory() + "MB");

    sleep(1000);
   }

    
  }
 }

 // inner class key without hashcode() or equals() -- bad implementation
 static class Key {
  private String key;

  public Key(String key) {
   this.key = key;
  }

 }

 //delay for a given period in milli seconds
 public static void sleep(long sleepFor) {
  try {
   Thread.sleep(sleepFor);
  } catch (InterruptedException e) {
   e.printStackTrace();
  }
 }

 //get available memory in MB
 public static long getFreeMemory() {
  return Runtime.getRuntime().freeMemory() / (1024 * 1024);
 }

}

The results are as follows:

map size: 1000
Free memory after count 1000 is 4MB
map size: 2000
Free memory after count 2000 is 4MB
map size: 1396000
Free memory after count 1396000 is 2MB
map size: 1397000
Free memory after count 1397000 is 2MB
map size: 1398000
Free memory after count 1398000 is 2MB
map size: 1399000
Free memory after count 1399000 is 1MB
map size: 1400000
Free memory after count 1400000 is 1MB
map size: 1401000
Free memory after count 1401000 is 1MB
.....
.....
map size: 1452000
Free memory after count 1452000 is 0MB
map size: 1453000
Free memory after count 1453000 is 0MB
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
 at java.util.HashMap.addEntry(HashMap.java:753)
 at java.util.HashMap.put(HashMap.java:385)
 at MemoryLeak.main(MemoryLeak.java:10)

Q: how to solve the memory leak above?
A: implement the equals and hasCode methods of the Key class.
 

    .....
static class Key {
 private String key;

 public Key(String key) {
  this.key = key;
 }

 
 @Override
 public boolean equals(Object obj) {

  if (obj instanceof Key)
   return key.equals(((Key) obj).key);
  else
   return false;

 }

 @Override
 public int hashCode() {
  return key.hashCode();
 }
}
.....
 

  Reexecuting the program results in the following:
 

 map size: 1
Free memory after count 1000 is 4MB
map size: 1
Free memory after count 2000 is 4MB
map size: 1
Free memory after count 3000 is 4MB
map size: 1
Free memory after count 4000 is 4MB
...
Free memory after count 73000 is 4MB
map size: 1
Free memory after count 74000 is 4MB
map size: 1
Free memory after count 75000 is 4MB
 

Q: how do you find memory leaks in a real scenario?
A: get the thread ID with the following code

C:>jps
5808 Jps
4568 MemoryLeak
3860 Main

Open jconsole from the command line

C:>jconsole 4568

The Key class that implements hasCode and equals and the graph that does not are shown below:

No memory leaks:
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Memory leak:

< img SRC = "border = 0 / / files.jb51.net/file_images/article/201404/201442883646109.jpg? 201432883656 ">