[cap-talk] Resource management on OCap systems

[Mark Miller]

On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 2:46 PM, David Barbour <dmbarbour at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 1:41 AM, Jed Donnelley <capability at webstart.com>wrote:
>>
>>  I agree that it's wise not to keep unneeded references.  I also agree
>> that traditional (if by that you mean by reference count) GC isn't
>> necessary.
>>
>
> Traditional GC also includes options such as:
> * mark and sweep
> * copy collection
>

For distributed GC of large grain units (e.g., vats) among mutually
suspicious machines, don't forget Market Sweep <
http://e-drexler.com/d/09/00/AgoricsPapers/agoricpapers/ie/ie3.html#section3.2
>.



>
> There are also many GC models that are effectively hybrids with reference
> counting, such as generational collectors or region-based collectors.
>
>
>> Sorry, but I don't understand what all you mean by, "But by uniformly
>> representing `connection` objects, we can also have linear references for
>> relationships with shared resources."  What does uniformity have to do with
>> things?
>>
>
> One problem with reference counting is that a `count` is a lossy
> representation of an object's relationships with the world. Tracking
> connections is more robust, and can simplify both GC design and application
> semantics for disrupting or destroying the object. However, to generically
> take advantage of this in the GC, it must be uniform - i.e. there is no way
> to access any object except via connection.
>
>
>
> When you discuss "linear references for relationships with shared
>> resources" I'm reminded of the path based sorts of access that Alan Karp
>> discusses with the Client Utility.  Do you know if you're referring to a
>> similar concept?
>>
>
> I've not paid any attention to the discussion of Client Utility.
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave
>
>
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>
>


-- 
Text by me above is hereby placed in the public domain

  Cheers,
  --MarkM
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