OpenJDK 的 LinkedBlockingQueue 实现:Node 类和 GC

I've reproduced the description of the node class below:

static class Node<E> {
    E item;

    /**
     * One of:
     * - the real successor Node
     * - this Node, meaning the successor is head.next
     * - null, meaning there is no successor (this is the last node)
     */
    Node<E> next;

    Node(E x) { item = x; }
}

具体来说，我对 next 的第二个选择感到困惑(这个节点，意思是后继者是 head.next").

private E dequeue() {
    // assert takeLock.isHeldByCurrentThread();
    // assert head.item == null;
    Node<E> h = head;
    Node<E> first = h.next;
    h.next = h; // help GC
    head = first;
    E x = first.item;
    first.item = null;
    return x;
}