The usage of finalize()

//: initialization/TerminationCondition.java // Using finalize() to detect an object that // hasn’t been properly cleaned up. class Book { boolean checkedOut = false; Book(boolean checkOut) { checkedOut = checkOut; } void checkIn() { checkedOut = false; } protected void finalize() { if(checkedOut) System.out.println("Error: checked out"); // Normally, you’ll also do this: // super.finalize(); // Call the base-class version } } public class TerminationCondition { public static void main(String[] args) { Book novel = new Book(true); // Proper cleanup: novel.checkIn(); // Drop the reference, forget to clean up: new Book(true); // Force garbage collection & finalization: System.gc(); } } /* Output: Error: checked out 

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The termination condition is that all Book objects are supposed to be checked in before they are garbage collected, but in main( ), a programmer error doesn’t check in one of the books. Without finalize( ) to verify the termination condition, this can be a difficult bug to find.
Note that System.gc( ) is used to force finalization. But even if it isn’t, it’s highly probable that the errant Book will eventually be discovered through repeated executions of the program (assuming the program allocates enough storage to cause the garbage collector to execute).
You should generally assume that the base-class version of finalize( ) will also be doing something important, and call it using super, as you can see in Book.finalize( ). In this case, it is commented out because it requires exception handling, which we haven’t covered yet.