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lang-java
if between step 2 and step 3 the reference to the first instantiation is stored somewhere else (like Test test2 = test;), and that variable is still in scope when step 3 occurs...This is somewhat pedantic but garbage collection isn't based on scope, but on reachability. It's possible that a variable is in scope, but its value is no longer used, and that value can be garbage collected. Garbage collectors don't have scopes handy to make decisions based on that.