Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Johannes A G Vugts

Gerrit H Soepenberg

A Java virtual machine , comprises an execution engine for executing Java byte code and a memory management system . The memory management system performs garbage collection to remove objects that are not reachable from the current state of the Java program. In the prior art memory management system objects representing a class definition are only removed from memory if the classloader object which has loaded the class object is not reachable. According to the present invention the memory management system is arranged for removing classes which do not have any instantiated objects which can be reached in the present state of the program even if the classloader is still reachable. This results in a substantial saving of memory. Preferably the objects representing a class definition have a method which can signal to it that the definition can be deleted from memory if it has no instantiated objects anymore.

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Eindhoven, Netherlands

Johannes A G Vugts