Allocation cache premarking for snap-shot-at-the-beginning concurrent mark-and-sweep collector

Abstract

Tracking newly created objects during a garbage collection cycle includes marking newly allocated objects in the GC cycle during the allocation cache population phase. The goal is to take a high performance system for tracing live objects, such as the mark map, and combine the SATB with a cached allocation system for heap memory such that SATB representation is preserved. Embodiments combine both efficient support for an SATB model during a collection cycle and a highly optimized allocation path for heap objects in an allocation scheme (which may optionally be a size segregated class allocation scheme) that allows both mechanisms to co-exist effectively. Specifically, embodiments track newly created objects during a GC cycle such that they are kept alive during the trace phase while continuing to support a highly efficient allocating caching strategy.