Fixing "memory leaks" in ImageJ

Dear all,

This is more of a general comment/request than any specific issue. I have been running through some plugins I have made recently dealing with improper allocation of object references and ironing out "memory leaks" (I could probably be more careful during my coding!).

It occurred to me during this assessment that it would be great if there was the ability to run a method which would reset ImageJ back to its initial setup - i.e. to take all the GC Roots and all the initial references which are required when ImageJ starts, and discarding all the rest, to allow ImageJ to "reset" itself back to its initial state, and therefore remove any aberrant references via GC and allow ImageJ to remain running free from any memory leaks/get back all the available memory to the JVM.

Does anyone know if such a function already exists? Essentially it would amount to restarting ImageJ just without actually having to manually close and re-open. This would be convenient for developers to execute at the end of a plugin run to keep ImageJ free of memory leaks.... Assuming they want to refresh the system, and do not have any images or other important objects open.

Thanks,

Steve.

No files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by reviewing how ImageJ initializes and whether an existing reset or restart mechanism is available. Done would mean determining whether a safe in-process reset can discard plugin-created references without affecting intentionally open images or other objects.