Test

Wed Sep 16 23:50:00 GMT 1998

>>>>> "Godmar" == Godmar Back <gback@cs.utah.edu> writes:

Godmar> Then, let me ask the natural follow-up question as to how
Godmar> you're intending to handle multiple threads? Specifically, is
Godmar> it correct that garbage collection will only be possible at
Godmar> certain gc points (for which the compiler creates the precise
Godmar> information), and if that is so, what is your strategy about
Godmar> rolling threads that have not reached a gc point forward or
Godmar> backward to a gc point if a collection needs to happen?
Take a look at Alex's paper:
 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/java/papers/nosb.html
Near the end he discusses "pluggable GCs". The details you mention
are dependent upon the particular GC implementation.
The GC we're using now (and the one that will be in our runtime
release) is the popular Boehm conservative collector. It solves your
particular problem by stopping all the threads (using system-specific
voodoo) and then doing its work.
Godmar> I remember reading that your run-time uses a cooperative
Godmar> threading system; but isn't there value in having preemptive
Godmar> threads?
As Per says, we intend to support multiple thread systems. The only
currently working code is cooperative, though.
Tom