From: Justin Johnson <justinj@...>
Date: 2002-07-04T03:54:01+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby implementation Q's


> Well, how do other languages implement GC?  Which language, in your
opinion,
> has the *best* form of garbage collection?  I only know a little bit about
> GC, and then only with regards to Perl and Ruby.  I have no idea how C,
C++,
> Java, Smalltalk, OCaml, Lisp, etc handle GC behind the scenes.

Perl and Python use reference counting in combination with a mark-and-sweep
to reclaim cyclic reference garbage.  C and C++ have only manual
allocation/destruction by default but libraries are available to provide
various flavours of garbage collection.

Not sure about Java GC, but it runs on a seperate thread as an incremental
(mark-and-sweep?) process.  Generational garbage collectors are popular with
Smalltalk and Lisp, although historically both have used reference counting.
BETA uses the train algorithm, a twist on generational collecting.

There are many, many variations and mixtures.  It's quite a diverse field.

Which ones are actually better largely depends on the implementation details
and tuning.

--
Justin Johnson
justinj@mobiusent.com
Technical Director
Mobius