Mostly concurrent compaction for mark-sweep GC

Abstract

A memory manager that does not move objects may suffer from memory <i>fragmentation</i>. <i>Compaction</i> is an efficient, and sometimes inevitable, mechanism for reducing fragmentation. A Mark-Sweep garbage collector must occasionally execute a compaction, usually while the application is suspended. Compaction during pause time can have detrimental effects for interactive applications that require guarantees for maximal pause time. This work presents a method for reducing the pause time created by compaction at a negligible throughput hit. The solution is most suitable when added to a Mark-Sweep garbage collector.