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Object.Finalize Method

  • Reference

Definition

Namespace:
System
Assembly:
System.Runtime.dll
Assembly:
mscorlib.dll
Assembly:
netstandard.dll
Source:
Object.cs
Source:
Object.cs
Source:
Object.cs

Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection.

!Object ()
~Object ();
abstract member Finalize : unit -> unit
override this.Finalize : unit -> unit
Finalize ()

Examples

The following example verifies that the Finalize method is called when an object that overrides Finalize is destroyed. Note that, in a production application, the Finalize method would be overridden to release unmanaged resources held by the object. Also note that the C# example provides a destructor instead of overriding the Finalize method.

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

public class ExampleClass
{
   Stopwatch sw;

   public ExampleClass()
   {
      sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
      Console.WriteLine("Instantiated object");
   }

   public void ShowDuration()
   {
      Console.WriteLine("This instance of {0} has been in existence for {1}",
                        this, sw.Elapsed);
   }

   ~ExampleClass()
   {
      Console.WriteLine("Finalizing object");
      sw.Stop();
      Console.WriteLine("This instance of {0} has been in existence for {1}",
                        this, sw.Elapsed);
   }
}

public class Demo
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      ExampleClass ex = new ExampleClass();
      ex.ShowDuration();
   }
}
// The example displays output like the following:
//    Instantiated object
//    This instance of ExampleClass has been in existence for 00:00:00.0011060
//    Finalizing object
//    This instance of ExampleClass has been in existence for 00:00:00.0036294

open System.Diagnostics

type ExampleClass() =
    let sw = Stopwatch.StartNew()
    do 
        printfn "Instantiated object"

    member this.ShowDuration() =
        printfn $"This instance of {this} has been in existence for {sw.Elapsed}"

    override this.Finalize() =
        printfn "Finalizing object"
        sw.Stop()
        printfn $"This instance of {this} has been in existence for {sw.Elapsed}"

let ex = ExampleClass()
ex.ShowDuration()
// The example displays output like the following:
//    Instantiated object
//    This instance of ExampleClass has been in existence for 00:00:00.0011060
//    Finalizing object
//    This instance of ExampleClass has been in existence for 00:00:00.0036294

Imports System.Diagnostics

Public Class ExampleClass
   Dim sw As StopWatch
   
   Public Sub New()
      sw = Stopwatch.StartNew()
      Console.WriteLine("Instantiated object")
   End Sub 

   Public Sub ShowDuration()
      Console.WriteLine("This instance of {0} has been in existence for {1}",
                        Me, sw.Elapsed)
   End Sub
   
   Protected Overrides Sub Finalize()
      Console.WriteLine("Finalizing object")
      sw.Stop()
      Console.WriteLine("This instance of {0} has been in existence for {1}",
                        Me, sw.Elapsed)
   End Sub
End Class

Module Demo
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim ex As New ExampleClass()
      ex.ShowDuration()
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
'    Instantiated object
'    This instance of ExampleClass has been in existence for 00:00:00.0011060
'    Finalizing object
'    This instance of ExampleClass has been in existence for 00:00:00.0036294

For an additional example that overrides the Finalize method, see the GC.SuppressFinalize method.

Remarks

For more information about this API, see Supplemental API remarks for Object.Finalize.

Applies to

See also