METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GARBAGE COLLECTION OF NATIVE RESOURCES
A system and method for enabling automatic and fast garbage collection of native resources. Native code of mixed-language components is directed to perform dynamic allocation of native entities (such as objects, structures, etc.) through a Native Entity Factory (NEF) component instead of using low-level native language operators. Using the NEF component enables tracing dynamic native entity allocations, and driving a virtual machine garbage collector component based on native-heap activity.
1 . A method comprising:
receiving a request to create an object in a native heap, the object associated with a managed component;
creating the object in the native heap;
maintaining an identifier for the object along with a priority indication; and
based on the priority indication, determining whether to scan the managed component for an indication that the managed component may be garbage collected.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining to scan the managed component includes periodically scanning the managed component.
3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the step of periodically scanning the managed component includes indicating to a garbage collector to periodically scan managed components.
4 . The method of claim 3 further including indicating to a garbage collector to stop periodically scanning managed components.
5 . The method of claim 3 further including:
after garbage collecting the managed component, determining whether to stop scanning managed components.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the priority indication indicates a priority for disposing of the object when it is no longer needed.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the priority indication is provided with the request to create the object.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein when the managed component is garbage collected, the object in the native heap is disposed of.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining whether to scan the managed component is also based on a size of the object.
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the managed component is managed by a virtual machine.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the virtual machine is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
12 . Apparatus comprising:
a processor;
a memory, coupled to the processor, the memory including instructions, that, when provided to the processor cause the processor to carry out steps of:
receiving a request to create an object in a native heap in the memory, the object associated with a managed component;
creating the object in the native heap;
maintaining an identifier for the object along with a priority indication; and
based on the priority indication, determining whether to scan the managed component for an indication that the managed component may be garbage collected.
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the step of determining to scan the managed component includes periodically scanning the managed component.
14 . The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the step of periodically scanning the managed component includes indicating to a garbage collector to periodically scan managed components.
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 further including indicating to a garbage collector to stop periodically scanning managed components.
16 . The apparatus of claim 14 further including:
after garbage collecting the managed component, determining whether to stop scanning managed components.
17 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the priority indication indicates a priority for disposing of the object when it is no longer needed.
18 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the priority indication is provided with the request to create the object.
19 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein when the managed component is garbage collected, the object in the native heap is disposed of.
20 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein determining whether to scan the managed component is also based on a size of the object.
21 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the managed component is managed by a virtual machine.
22 . The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the virtual machine is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
23 . A machine-readable medium having machine-executable instructions for instructing a processor to perform steps comprising:
receiving a request to create an object in a native heap in a memory, the object associated with a managed component;
creating the object in the native heap;
maintaining an identifier for the object along with a priority indication; and
based on the priority indication, determining whether to scan the managed component for an indication that the managed component may be garbage collected.
24 . The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the step of determining to scan the managed component includes periodically scanning the managed component.
25 . The machine-readable medium of claim 24 wherein the step of periodically scanning the managed component includes indicating to a garbage collector to periodically scan managed components.
26 . The machine-readable medium of claim 25 further including the step of indicating to a garbage collector to stop periodically scanning managed components.
27 . A mobile device comprising:
a processing component;
a memory component, coupled to the processing component;
wherein the memory component includes instructions, that when provided to the processing component, cause the processing component to perform the steps of:
providing a virtual machine, for creating and managing managed components, the virtual machine including a garbage collector;
receiving a request to create an object in a native heap separate from the virtual machine, the object associated with a managed component in the virtual machine;
creating the object in the native heap;
maintaining an identifier for the object along with a priority indication;
based on the priority indication, determining whether to instruct the garbage collector to periodically scan the managed component for an indication that the managed component may be garbage collected; and
upon garbage collecting the managed component, determining whether to indicate to the garbage collector to stop periodically scanning managed components.