Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) Certification Practice Test

What should you use to ensure unmanaged resources are freed in case of an exception?

1. Try-Catch block

2. Using statement

3. Finalization

4. Garbage Collection

The correct answer is: Using statement

The choice of using the 'Using' statement is essential for ensuring that unmanaged resources are freed even in the event of an exception. The 'Using' statement defines a scope at the end of which an object will be disposed. This is particularly significant for unmanaged resources like file handles, network connections, or database connections, which do not have automatic memory management provided by the .NET Framework. When a type implements the IDisposable interface, utilizing the 'Using' statement guarantees that the resources are properly released regardless of whether the code in the block executes successfully or an exception occurs. When execution exits the 'Using' block—whether by normal completion or by encountering an error—the Dispose method is automatically called, which ensures that resources are freed promptly. In contrast, other methods such as relying solely on Garbage Collection are not sufficient because garbage collection in .NET only deals with managed resources. It does not handle the cleanup of unmanaged resources directly. Finalization, while it can help, is less predictable because it relies on the garbage collector to invoke the finalizer, which may not happen immediately. Similarly, employing a Try-Catch block allows for exception handling but does not ensure resource cleanup unless explicitly coded to do so. Thus, the 'Using' statement stands out as the