Кстати, вот хороший вопрос:
Возмем тот же самый пример из книжки Мука и модифицируем его таким образом:

Код AS3:
package {
import flash.display.*;
import flash.text.*;
import flash.utils.*;
import flash.events.*;
import flash.system.*;
public class GarbageCollectionDemo extends Sprite {
public function GarbageCollectionDemo() {
var s:Sprite = new Sprite();
s.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, enterFrameListener);
var timer:Timer = new Timer(100, 0);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, timerListener);
timer.start();
}
private function timerListener (e:TimerEvent):void {
for (var i = 0; i < 1000; i++) new TextField();
trace("TIMER: System memory used by this program: " + System.totalMemory);
}
private function enterFrameListener (e:Event):void {
trace("SPRITE: System memory used by this program: " + System.totalMemory);
}
}
}
Получаем вот такой результат:

Код:
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 12341248
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 12349440
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 12349440
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 12349440
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 14172160
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 14172160
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 14172160
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 14172160
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 15986688
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 15986688
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 15986688
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 15986688
SPRITE: System memory used by this program: 15986688
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 14184448
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 15982592
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 17788928
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 19587072
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 13393920
TIMER: System memory used by this program: 15187968
Как видим - спрайт со временем "умирает", а таймер "живет"! Как вы думаете, почему так происходит? Ведь с точки зрения области видимости и специфики работы сборщика мусора, на первый взгляд, оба объекта равноправны.