On Wednesday, 11 September 2013 at 11:19:27 UTC, Joseph Rushton
Wakeling wrote:
On 11/09/13 13:14, Joseph Rushton Wakeling wrote:
On 11/09/13 12:34, monarch_dodra wrote:
But if the buffer is stored in a static variable, the GC will
never collect it.
I *could* also free it myself, but why/when would I do that?
Did you just just let your buffer grow, and never let it get
collected?
Is there a way to do something like "I'm using this buffer,
but if you want to
collect it, then go ahead. I'll reallocate a new one
*if/when* I need it again"
How about GC.addRoot and GC.removeRoot ... ?
I should clarify that a bit more. I mean, from what I
understand, you want to be able to do something like this:
void foo(/* vars */)
{
// 1. if buffer not allocated, allocate as necessary
// 2. send GC a message: "Hey, I'm using this buffer!
Don't free!
// 3. carry out your calculations
// 4. send GC a message: "Hey, this buffer can be freed
if you need to."
}
If I understand right, GC.addRoot should take care of (2) and
GC.removeRoot can take care of (3). Then, if there's a
collection cycle in-between calls to foo, fine; if not, next
time you enter foo(), the new call to GC.addRoot will protect
the memory for the lifetime of the calculation.
But this is conjecture, not speaking from experience :-)
That's somewhat better, as it would allow the GC to collect my
buffer, if it wants to, but I wouldn't actually know about it
afterwards which leaves me screwed.
I *think* addRoot and removeRoot is really designed to pass GC
memory to functions that aren't GC-scanned...
