Why does Dispose throw InvalidOperationException?

You're disposing a NativeArray that's still being referenced by a scheduled job. The safety system catches the use-after-free. Call jobHandle.Complete() before dispose, or use array.Dispose(jobHandle) for deferred dispose.

Can the job dispose the array itself?

Yes — mark the field [DeallocateOnJobCompletion] so the safety system frees it after the job finishes. Useful for one-shot scratch arrays.

Allocator.Temp vs TempJob vs Persistent?

Temp = same frame, can't cross job. TempJob = up to 4 frames, fine for jobs. Persistent = until manual Dispose. Use TempJob for short-lived job scratch.

Fix: NativeArray Disposed While Job Running

Quick answer: handle.Complete() before array.Dispose(). Or array.Dispose(handle) to defer disposal until the job finishes.

You schedule a parallel job, then dispose the input array. Unity throws because the safety check sees the job still has a read handle on the buffer.

The Symptom

InvalidOperationException: The NativeArray has been deallocated, it is not allowed to access it in editor. In production with safety checks off, undefined behavior.

The Fix

var data = new NativeArray<float>(1024, Allocator.TempJob);
var job = new MyJob { Data = data };
var handle = job.Schedule();

// Bad — immediate dispose while job runs
// data.Dispose();

// Good — complete first
handle.Complete();
data.Dispose();

// Or deferred via overload
// data.Dispose(handle);  // dispose after job done

The Dispose(JobHandle) overload chains a deallocation job after the producer. Useful when you can’t block the main thread immediately.

Verifying

Run with Burst Safety Checks On in editor. No exception. Switch to Allocator.Persistent if leaks: leak detection points to source line.

“Complete the handle. Then dispose. Or chain dispose to handle.”

Related Issues

For Burst determinism, see determinism. For Jobs batch size, see batch size.

Complete first. Then dispose.