These classes are part of some code to reduce memory leaks by only
retaining weak references to things
on Java1.2+, and yet still work (with leaky hard references) on Java1.1.
Now that Ant is 1.2+ only,
life is simpler and none of the classes are needed any more.
They are only retained in case a third-party task uses them
since: ant1.6 See Also:org.apache.tools.ant.util.optional.WeakishReference12java.lang.ref.WeakReference
Inner Class :public static class HardReference extends WeakishReference
createReference(Object object) create the appropriate type of reference for the java version
Parameters: object - the object that the reference will refer to.
create the appropriate type of reference for the java version
Parameters: object - the object that the reference will refer to. reference to the Object.
Returns this reference object's referent. If this reference object has
been cleared, then this method returns null.
The object to which this reference refers, ornull if this reference object has been cleared.