MEMORY MANAGEMENT IN A PARTIALLY GARBAGE-COLLECTED PROGRAMMING SYSTEM

摘要

Memory management to support calls between objects in language environments supp orting automatic garbage collection and language environments requiring explicit contro l of object destruction is provided. Reference counting is used to automatically control the lifetime of objects requiring explicit destruction and that are to be accessible across the language boundary. A data structure is maintained in a runtime component for each object that is accessed over a language boundary. The reference count for each non-garbage collected object is increment ed by the runtime in accordance with the number of cross-language references held to it. When the count reaches zero through decrements as the references are returned and destroyed, the non-garbage collected object can be safely and automatically destroyed. The runtime creates a reference to an y garbage collected object accessed by a cross-language call. The reference is visible to the garbag e collector, and prevents the object being collected while the reference is in existence.