Creating a list of objects in Java

Question

So I was thinking of creating a list of objects like this

ArrayList<Obj> lst = new ArrayList<Obj>(10);
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
  Obj elem = new Obj();
  lst.add(elem);
}

Is this legal or do I have to worry about Object 1 getting trashed when the elem reference starts pointing to Object 2? If it's illegal, how might I do it otherwise? Is there a way to automatically generate ten different reference names?

Answer 1

Garbage Collector will remove objects only when there are no references pointing to it. In your case, your list will be pointing to 10 distinct Object objects and they are safe until you lose reference to lst Object.

Answer 2

It's perfectly legal. Your ArrayList will contain a reference to the object you just created, so it will not be GCed.

Answer 3

Your approach is perfectly valid. You will end up with a list of ten distinct objects.