Why should you place close() calls in a finally block when working with JDBC resources?

Why should you place close() calls in a finally block when working with JDBC resources?

• A. To improve performance
• B. To ensure resources are released even if an exception occurs
• C. To rely on garbage collection
• D. To reduce code size

Answer: (B)

Releasing database resources reliably requires closing them in a finally block. When you work with JDBC, resources such as a Connection, a Statement, or a ResultSet consume scarce system and database resources. If you close them only after the normal path completes, an exception thrown inside the try block can skip that closing step, leaving resources open and potentially exhausting the pool or causing leaks. Placing the close() calls in a finally block ensures they run no matter what happened in the try block, so resources are released promptly and consistently. Relying on garbage collection isn’t appropriate here because GC timing is unpredictable and won’t guarantee timely release of native resources like database connections. While the option about reducing code size isn’t the goal, and performance isn’t the primary reason, the real benefit is correctness and reliability of resource cleanup. In modern code, try-with-resources offers a cleaner way to achieve the same effect automatically.

Releasing database resources reliably requires closing them in a finally block. When you work with JDBC, resources such as a Connection, a Statement, or a ResultSet consume scarce system and database resources. If you close them only after the normal path completes, an exception thrown inside the try block can skip that closing step, leaving resources open and potentially exhausting the pool or causing leaks. Placing the close() calls in a finally block ensures they run no matter what happened in the try block, so resources are released promptly and consistently.

Relying on garbage collection isn’t appropriate here because GC timing is unpredictable and won’t guarantee timely release of native resources like database connections. While the option about reducing code size isn’t the goal, and performance isn’t the primary reason, the real benefit is correctness and reliability of resource cleanup. In modern code, try-with-resources offers a cleaner way to achieve the same effect automatically.