[AVRO-1175] BinaryData keeps a thread local reference after completing a compare, preventing compared arrays from being GC'd

• Type: Bug
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 1.7.2
• Fix Version/s: 1.7.3
• Component/s: java
• Assignee: Doug Cutting
• Reporter: Sandy Ryza
• Created: 27/Sep/12 23:16
• Updated: 10/Dec/12 17:57
• Resolved: 28/Nov/12 22:56

Description

BinaryData holds on to BinaryDecoders as thread local variables (so it doesn't have to make new ones for each compare?). When a compare is completed, the BinaryDecoder still keeps a reference to the ByteArrayByteSource, which stops its underlying byte array from being garbage collected.

This is causing an OutOfMemoryError in reducers when shuffling with MR2.