Defer Separating Children in Parallel Copying Garbage Collection

A computer-implemented method of automatic memory management in a multi-threaded processor, the method comprising:

• scanning a slot of an object;
• determining a frequency of use of an object referenced within the slot;
• and
• responsive to a determined frequency of use that is minimal, deferring a copying of the referenced object in the slot.

An automatic memory management system, the system comprising:

• a multi-threaded processor, each thread of the processor synchronized to perform work to be processed for a copying garbage collector, the processor including memory that comprises:
• means for each thread of the processor to process a workpacket, the workpacket comprising objects;
• means for scanning a slot of an object in the workpacket;
• means for determining whether an object referenced within the slot is to be copied to a destination region of the object in the workpacket;
• means for deferring a copying of the referenced object;
• and
• means for rescanning the workpacket.

A computer program product comprising a computer-recordable medium tangibly embodying instructions which, when executed by a computer, performs actions of:

• scanning a slot of an object;
• responsive to the scanning, determining a destination region to which an object referenced within the slot of the object is to be copied;
• and
• deferring a copying of the referenced object.