Precise garbage collection for C

Magpie is a source-to-source transformation for C programs that enables precise garbage collection, where precise means that integers are not confused with pointers, and the liveness of a pointer is apparent at the source level. Precise GC is primarily useful for long-running programs and programs that interact with untrusted components. In particular, we have successfully deployed precise GC in the C implementation of a language run-time system that was originally designed to use conservative GC. We also report on our experience in transforming parts of the Linux kernel to use precise GC instead of manual memory management. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.4.2 [Storage Management]: Garbage Collection General Terms Design, Reliability Keywords garbage collection, precise, accurate, conservative, C

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: IWMM
• Authors: Jon Rafkind, Adam Wick, John Regehr, Matthew Flatt
• Keywords: Garbage Collection, IWMM 2009, Operating System, Precise Garbage Collection, Precise Gc