From: Hongli Lai <h.lai@...>
Date: 2007-10-13T03:03:52+09:00
Subject: Question about heap_slots in gc.c

I'm trying to modify the Ruby interpreter's garbage collector. At the 
moment I'm trying to understand the 'heap_slots' variable.

Currently, heap_slots is used like this when add_heap() is called:
1. Allocate a new heap with size heap_slot + 1.
2. Increment heap_slot by 1, then by 80%. This means that next time a 
new heap is created, it will be larger.
3. If next time add_heap() is called, and heap allocation fails 
(possible because heap_size is too large now), then add_heap() will try 
again but with HEAP_MIN_SLOTS instead. If that fails too, then bail out.

But this line caught my eye:
if (heap_slots <= 0) heap_slots = HEAP_MIN_SLOTS;

 From what I understand, heap_slots can never be negative. Did I miss 
something? Why is the check there?