Re: Can lua 5.x work with handle-based memory managers...

[Rob Kendrick <lua-l@...>]

Joseph Stewart wrote:
> Hello my esteemed lua fans!
>
> I use an embedded operating system that looks a lot like the old
> (pre-OSX) Apple Macintosh OS. The device has no hardware MMU to
> provide a "flat" memory view to software. There are many concurrent
> threads competing for the heap, so the OS developers implemented a
> "handle-based" memory manager (apps get "pointers-to-pointers"). App
> developers are encouraged to "unlock" their memory handles when not
> actively using them.

RISC OS has a similar problem.  Memory fragmentation is common, and a pain. 
The typical solution is to use a "sliding heap" - one that keeps as small as 
possible.  When you free a block, it shuffles everything down, and updates the 
handles (or anchors) to point at the new location.

It's certainly a nice solution to the problem of MMU-less hardware with tiny 
amounts of RAM.  (Or even MMU-equipt machines, just with a witless OS, in RISC 
OS's case.)

I'd like to see Lua be able to use such things.  I don't actually have any use 
for it myself, but I can see why others might find it extremely lovely.

--
Rob Kendrick