In computer programming, a weak reference is a reference that does not protect the referenced object from collection by a garbage collector; unlike a strong reference. An object referenced only by weak references is considered unreachable (or weakly reachable) and so may be collected at any time. Some garbage-collected languages feature or support various levels of weak references, such as Java, C#, Python, Perl, and Lisp.
Read more about Weak Reference: Garbage Collection, Variations, Examples
Famous quotes containing the words weak and/or reference:
“How weak and little is the light,
All the universe of sight,
Love and delight,
Before the might,
If you love it not, of night.”
—Edward Thomas (1878–1917)
“If we define a sign as an exact reference, it must include symbol because a symbol is an exact reference too. The difference seems to be that a sign is an exact reference to something definite and a symbol an exact reference to something indefinite.”
—William York Tindall (1903–1981)