For now, this GC is non-generational, and much slower than the old
version. It tracks objects by a fixed object ID rather than changeable
memory address. Small object (eight bytes or less) are stored directly
in the array, indexed by object ID, while larger object are allocated
with malloc() (for now) and stored in the array as a pointer. Object
IDs are stored as 32-bit integers, even on 64-bit platforms.
Advantages:
- Simpler design
- Requires less memory on 64-bit platforms
- Object IDs don't change when running the GC
- No need to store a random "hash" value in vectors/strings/structs
- Can hash pairs by identity, not just value
- Can move objects individually, without fixing up all references
- Can determine object type from value, without another memory access
Disadvantages:
- Lower initial performance (non-generational, relies on malloc())
- 32-bit values place a (high) limit on total number of objects
- Must explicitly free unreachable object IDs after GC
Eliminate use of #="undefined" as an explicit initializer for boxes.
Do not allow #@ ("freeze") to be applied to references, for sanity's sake.
Inside compiler, builtins are now represented by (#%builtin "name") form.
Plain symbols are promoted to builtins; quoted symbols become structures.
Add support for (fix=), (list), (and), (or), (cond), (when), and (unless).
Fix a mapper bug which could assign the same frame var to separate variables.
Update make-struct primitive for new structure type layout.
Change primitives to use #% as prefix instead of just %.
Add primitive operations for comparing byte-strings.
Fix tree_replace() to handle recursive data structures.
Fix some other minor bugs in the reader and interpreter.
Implement comment-escapes in the string parser, for more readable input.
Allow input program files (*.rla) to be invoked directly, with arguments.
Add a simple string->number converter as a builtin function.
Jesse D. McDonald