Collections and garbage collection

Abstract

We present here a data parallel dialect of lisp, Plural EuLisp, which is a relatively low-level abstract model of massively parallel processing. It is not as rich as languages like Connection Machine Lisp and Paralation Lisp but encompasses ideas integral to at least Paralation Lisp. However its low-level nature makes the explanation of the underlying processor/memory management mechanisms easier as the low level structures are closer to the objects in Plural EuLisp. We describe how memory and processors are allocated and garbage collected, with particular interest in heterogeneous data parallel objects - which in general have been considered too expensive to be supported seriously.