Garbage-first garbage collection

Abstract

Garbage-First is a server-style garbage collector, targeted for multi-processors with large memories, that meets a soft real-time goal with high probability, while achieving high throughput. Whole-heap operations, such as global marking, are performed concurrently with mutation, to prevent interruptions proportional to heap or live-data size. Concurrent marking both provides collection completeness and identifies regions ripe for reclamation via compacting evacuation. This evacuation is performed in parallel on multiprocessors, to increase throughput.