[Python-Dev] Memory bitmaps for the Python cyclic garbage collector

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Thu, 7 Sep 2017 11:30:12 -0600
Neil Schemenauer <neil at python.ca> wrote:
> 
> * The GC process would work nearly the same as it does now.  Rather than
>   only traversing the linked list, we would also have to crawl over the
>   GC object arenas, check blocks of memory that have the tracked bit
>   set.

Small note: the linked lists are also used for distinguishing between
generations. In other words, there is not one linked list but three of
them (one per generation).  This means you probably need two bits per
object, not one.

Other than that, it's an interesting proposal.  I'm looking forward to
the concrete results (performance, and maintenance overhead) :-)

Regards

Antoine.