Currently, calling string_make(interp, NULL,0,NULL,0,NULL), as is done by, for example "new P0, PerlString", calls Parrot_allocate with a required allocation of zero, which gets converted to 16; a 16-byte buffer is hence allocated, and its address placed in bufstart. However, buflen will still be zero, therefore the block will be discarded as soon as any actual content is assigned to the string.
Parrot_go_collect uses a slightly different rounding rule, and will allocate zero bytes to a zero-length buffer; the current allocation address will be placed in bufstart, but the same address will be used for the next buffer collected. Would it be sensible to define 'buflen=0, bufused=0, bufstart=NULL' as a valid null string? This would impact on any code that assumes bufstart to be valid. If not, are there any other suggestions for ways to avoid this proliferation of useless blocks, or should we just let them be created and discarded? -- Peter Gibbs EmKel Systems
