From: Rick DeNatale Date: 2010-07-06T05:31:48+09:00 Subject: Re: Garbage Collection on Windoze On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 12:05 PM, Roger Pack wrote: >> ObjectSpace.each_object(Test) { |o| puts o.inspect } >> # => # >>      # >> >> I'm using ruby 1.8.7p249, but I have the same results with 1.9.1p378. >> I'm on windoze (yeah, I know...). The problem does not appear on my Mac >> (Inner is gone after GC). Any idea about this, a workaround? I need to >> free OLE automation objects, that's why... > > Yeah get the same thing here.  It's the nature of conservative GC. > I did a little writeup of it here: > > http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ruby_Programming/Reference/Objects/GC#Conservative > That write up is a bit bogus I'm afraid. 1) The MRI GC is NOT conservative, it guards calls to gc_mark and it's ilk by using the C function is_pointer_to_heap, since it marks objects by setting bits in the object's header (the first word pointed to by a potential object reference) marking a non-object by mistake would lead to seriously hard to debug problems. 2) Although a conservative GC, if Ruby actually used it, could cause objects to live past the point that could no longer really be reached, many garbage collectors have the property that there is no guarantee that unreachable objects are collected as soon as possible, only that objects will NOT be collected as log as they are alive. -- Rick DeNatale Blog: http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/ Github: http://github.com/rubyredrick Twitter: @RickDeNatale WWR: http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale