Re: Compile Time Garbage Collection impossible?

On Sat, 22 Sep 2006 the.real.doctor.zoidberg@gmail.com wrote:


> Why isn't Compile-Time-Garbage-Collection feasible? Consider a Java
> compiler which produces assembly code for a specific target instead of
> Java's bytecode cenario. The objective is to use Java without the need
> for a GC or VM.


Google for region-based memory management.


> I'm asking why it isn't possible because otherwise there would be at
> least one compiler to use that technique, instead of having to run a
> GC in the VM.


http://www.google.com/search?q=region+memory+management+java


> [Local objects are usually stack allocated and freed at end of scope.
> You need GC when you do dynamic allocation, and chain stuff into lists
> and trees of data structures. -John]


Not always. Sometimes you can statically determine when to free them.


Java creates very tangled memory (+ tends to allocate much more than
necessary). ML creates cleaner memory so it works better with pure memory
management.


Some programs don't need a runtime garbage collector if they use
region-based memory management but most do (but the garbage collector has
much less work to do since much of the memory gets released
automatically).


-Peter

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