Real Software's web site is not always accurate in its descriptions
of REALbasic. For example -- "Everything is an object and everything
inherits from objects using a single inheritance model."
As I understand it, "garbage collection" is usually used to refer to
memory management schemes that defer cleanup of freed memory, which
reference counting does not (in most implementations).
Charles Yeomans
On Jan 5, 2007, at 3:26 PM, Daniel Stenning wrote:
A quote from REAL Software's own web site:
" REALbasic’s object-oriented BASIC language supports object events,
properties, methods, classes, inheritance and polymorphism. It is
also a
strongly typed language, which makes applications more reliable.
Memory
management is handled automatically through garbage collection"
You are correct in how the garbage collection process works. The
REALbasic
garbage collector is the software included in every REALbasic
compiled app (
call it the runtime or framework ) which carries out the deletion
of the
object once the reference count reaches zero.
This is how many garbage collectors work. Smart pointers in C++
apps often
work in the same manner.
I think this is semantic splitting hairs really but the fact is
that to
collect garbage one must have garbage collection software ( ie a
garbage
collector) somewhere in the code, either integrated into the
language, as in
the case of RB and Java, or as a "bolt" on, as in the case of the
Boehm C++
garbage collector.
When working on GC for Squirt some years back, I found the
following wiki
very helpful as a starting point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)
On 5/1/07 19:44, "Norman Palardy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
software.com> wrote:
On Jan 05, 2007, at 12:11 PM, Daniel Stenning wrote:
No garbage collection ??
I think what you mean is that RB uses a garbage collector that
utilises the
reference counting method.
NO garbage collection
When a reference count = 0 the object is deleted immediately
Java has a garbage collector
RB does not
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