When should I use weak references?

What are weak references and when should I use them?

Weak references are references that do not prevent their referents from being collected by the garbage collector. You should use them when you want to avoid memory leaks, especially in caching scenarios.

Can you give me an example of when weak references are beneficial?

Sure! A common use case is in implementing caches. If you store objects in a cache using weak references, they can be garbage collected when memory is low, preventing memory leaks.

Are there any downsides to using weak references?

Yes, the main downside is that weakly referenced objects can be collected at any time, which means you need to handle cases where the object may no longer exist.

How do weak references differ from strong references?

Strong references prevent the object from being garbage collected, while weak references allow the object to be collected if there are no strong references pointing to it.