As per ref-doc:
A GroovyClassLoader keeps a reference of all the classes it created, so it is easy to create a memory leak. In particular, if you execute the same script twice, if it is a String, then you obtain two distinct classes!
I use a file as a source for parsing but turned caching off:
GroovyCodeSource src = new GroovyCodeSource( file )
src.cachable = false
Class clazz = groovyClassLoader.parseClass src
Class clazz1 = groovyClassLoader.parseClass src
log.info "$clazz <=> $clazz1 equal: ${clazz == clazz1}"
the log output is always
class MyClass <=> class MyClass equal: false
If I comment the line src.cachable = false, then the class instances become equal, but they are NOT re-compiling even though the underlying file has changed.
Hence the question: how can I re-compile classes properly without creating a memory leak?
After doing some experiments, I figured out that switching back to using String:
String src = 'class A {}'
Class clazz = groovyClassLoader.parseClass src
log.info groovyClassLoader.loadedClasses.join( ', ' )
the loaded classes do not change in lenght, even if a class has some Closures inside (which appear as classes as well).