Differentiate Java final, finalize, finally
Company: LinkedIn
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: Medium
Interview Round: Technical Screen
Differentiate Java's final, finalize, and finally. Define what final means for variables, methods, and classes and give examples; explain what finalize was intended to do and why it is discouraged or obsolete, and what to use instead; and describe the semantics of the finally block in try-catch-finally, including how it interacts with returns and exceptions. Include edge cases and best practices.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's knowledge of Java language semantics, covering the 'final' modifier for variables, methods, and classes, the role and deprecation concerns around 'finalize', and the control-flow semantics of 'finally' including interactions with returns and exceptions.