# Why does AS3 not use weak references by default? (in event listeners)

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-does-as3-not-use-weak-references-by-default-in-event-listeners/301610>\
**Category:** flash\
**Created:** [December 12, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-does-as3-not-use-weak-references-by-default-in-event-listeners/301610 "2009-12-12T01:20:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rinogo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@rinogo](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/rinogo)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-does-as3-not-use-weak-references-by-default-in-event-listeners/301610/1 "2009-12-12T01:20:51Z")

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The default value for weakReference in the call to addEventListener() is false. Many memory issues can be resolved by using weakReferences; in fact, some industry experts “strongly recommend always using weak references with listeners”.

If this is the case, can someone provide me with a good reason why weakReference defaults to true? (Note that I’m not asking why someone would ever want a listener that is not a weakReference, but rather why weakReference=false is the default)

Thanks! 🙂