The feasibility of automatic storage reclamation with concurrent program execution in a LISP environment

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Authors
Cassidy, Kevin G.
Subjects
Garbage Collection
list processing
parallel and real-time collection
storage reclamation
parallel processing
LISP
compaction
Advisors
MacLennan, Bruce J.
Date of Issue
1985-12
Date
Publisher
Language
en_US
Abstract
In "classical" LISP implementations, program execution/ computation continues until there is no more memory available (i.e. the free list of available cells has become exhausted). When this happens, user program (s) HALT and then storage reclamation, in the form of garbage collection , takes over. This halting of programs in the midst of their computation is not only frustrating to programmers and researchers but can also be of crucial importance in other applications. This paper investigates the feasibility of allowing concurrent program execution with garbage collection. Proof of correctness and performance issues are not discussed. Neither allocation of memory techniques/procedures nor garbage collection in virtual memory systems are thoroughly discussed. These issues are thoroughly described in the listed references LISP has been selected because it has been estimated that typical LISP programs take 10%-30% of their processing time to perform garbage collection.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Computer Science
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
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