android - Should I explicitly deference a statically declared Context variable? -

i'm trying optimize app against memory leaks. i've read lot of blog posts , questions, , i've seen people saying deference statically declared variables gc can collect them, while others saying it's unnecessary.

public class myactivity extends activity {  private static context context; private static arraylist<string> arraylist = new arraylist<>();      protected void oncreate(bundle savedinstancestate) {         super.oncreate(savedinstancestate);         context = this;         arraylist.add("random strings"); ..//other code     }      @override     protected void ondestroy() {         context = null;         arraylist.clear();         super.ondestroy();     } 

the reason behind code static variables independent of activity lifecycles , therefore implicitly hold reference entire activity context after ondestroy unless it's reference null. i've tested both variants in app , there weren't differences 1 another. above necessary?

i'm trying optimize app against memory leaks.

then perhaps should not introducing memory leaks in first place. rid of private static context context , consider getting rid of private static arraylist<string> arraylist.

in standard java, non-constant static fields considered serious code smell. used bit more commonly in android, there clear reason so, , cache, , then more smarts managing cache.

but i've tested both variants in app , there weren't differences 1 another

you see difference if add leakcanary project. without setting static field null, leaking activity instance until such time process terminated, or until such time instance of activity created (as replace old field value).