Improved effectiveness from a real time lisp garbage collector

Abstract

This paper describes a real-time garbage collection algorithm for list processing systems. We identify two efficiency problems inherent to real-time garbage collectors, and give some evidence that the proposed algorithm tends to reduce these problems. In a virtual memory implementation, the algorithm restructures the cell storage area more compactly, thus reducing working sets. The algorithm also may provide a more garbage-free storage area at the end of the collection cycle, although this claim really must await empirical verification.