GC_MALLOC(1L) GC_MALLOC(1L) 20 April 1994 NAME GC_malloc, GC_malloc_atomic, GC_free, GC_realloc, GC_enable_incremental, GC_register_finalizer - Garbage collecting malloc replacement SYNOPSIS #include "gc.h" # define malloc(n) GC_malloc(n) cc ... gc.a DESCRIPTION GC_malloc and GC_free are plug-in replacements for standard malloc and free. However, GC_malloc will attempt to reclaim inaccessible space automaticaly by invoking a conservative garbage collector at appropriate points. The collector traverses all data structures accessible by following pointers from the machines registers, stack(s), data, and bss segments. Inaccessible structures will be reclaimed. A machine word is considered to be a valid pointer if it is an address inside an object allocated by GC_malloc or friends. Unlike the standard implementations of malloc, GC_malloc clears the newly allocated storage. GC_malloc_atomic does not. Furthermore, it informs the collector that the resulting object will never contain any pointers, and should therefore not be scanned by the collector. GC_free can be used to deallocate objects, but its use is optional, and discouraged. GC_realloc has the standard realloc semantics. It preserves pointer-free-ness. GC_register_finalizer allows for registration of functions that are invoked when an object becomes inaccessible. It is also possible to use the collector to find storage leaks in programs destined to be run with standard malloc/free. The collector can be compiled for thread-safe operation. Unlike standard malloc, it is safe to call malloc after a previous malloc call was interrupted by a signal, provided the original malloc call is not resumed. Debugging versions of many of the above routines are provided as macros. Their names are identical to the above, but consist of all capital letters. If GC_DEBUG is defined before gc.h is included, these routines do additional checking, and allow the leak detecting version of the collector to produce slightly more useful output. Without GC_DEBUG defined, they behave exactly like the lower-case versions. On some machines, collection will be performed incrementally after a call to GC_enable_incremental. This may temporarily write protect pages in the heap. See the README file for more information on how this interacts with system calls that write to the heap. Other facilities not discussed here include a C++ interface, limited facilities to support incremental collection on machines without appropriate VM support, provisions for providing more explicit object layout information to the garbage collector, more direct support for ``weak'' pointers, etc. SEE ALSO The README and gc.h files in the distribution. More detailed - 1 - Formatted: November 14, 2024 GC_MALLOC(1L) GC_MALLOC(1L) 20 April 1994 definitions of the functions exported by the collector are given there. (The above list is not complete.) Boehm, H., and M. Weiser, "Garbage Collection in an Uncooperative Environment", Software Practice & Experience, September 1988, pp. 807-820. The malloc(3) man page. AUTHOR Hans-J. Boehm (boehm@parc.xerox.com). Some of the code was written by others, most notably Alan Demers. - 2 - Formatted: November 14, 2024