How does Java Garbage Collection work with Circular References?

Question

From my understanding, garbage collection in Java cleans up some objects if nothing else is \'pointing\' to that object.

My question is, what happens if we have some

Answer 1

The Java GCs don't actually behave as you describe. It's more accurate to say that they start from a base set of objects, frequently called "GC roots", and will collect any object that can not be reached from a root.
GC roots include things like:

• static variables
• local variables (including all applicable 'this' references) currently in the stack of a running thread

So, in your case, once the local variables a, b, and c go out of scope at the end of your method, there are no more GC roots that contain, directly or indirectly, a reference to any of your three nodes, and they'll be eligible for garbage collection.

TofuBeer's link has more detail if you want it.