One of the strengths of the Java environment (in both the language and the JVM) is its emphasis on memory safety. While greatly aiding programmer productivity, many Java programmers are not aware of the memory-based problems that can arise within their Java applications. After reviewing the strengths (and limitations) of Java's memory model, this session emphasizes that the the key to effective memory management in Java is effective reference management. We highlight reference management issues in class library and application framework design (especially in the context of J2EE applications) and provide effective design and implementation techniques (including the Reference object framework introduced in Java 2)