Under what conditions is an object’s finalize() method invoked by the garbage collector

The garbage collector invokes an object’s finalize() method when it detects that the object has become unreachable.

In Java, the finalize() method is a method of the Object class, and it is called by the garbage collector before an object is reclaimed (garbage collected). However, there are no guarantees about when the finalize() method will be called or whether it will be called at all. The Java documentation explicitly states that it is typically not recommended to rely on finalize() for resource cleanup, and instead, developers are encouraged to use other mechanisms like try-with-resources or implementing the AutoCloseable interface for better resource management.

To summarize, an object’s finalize() method may be invoked by the garbage collector, but there are no specific conditions or guarantees about when this will happen. It’s generally not considered good practice to rely on finalize() for critical resource cleanup in Java applications.