System and method for adaptive garbage collection in a virtual machine environment

A method for adaptive garbage collection in a virtual machine environment, comprising the steps of:

• accessing a computer including a virtual machine thereon for executing applications;
• accessing a memory including objects therein related to the applications;
• and
• using an adaptive garbage collector, that uses an automatic feedback that continuously monitors current behavior of the adaptive garbage collector and the virtual machine, and continuously makes adjustments to configurable parameters of the adaptive garbage collector and the virtual machine to reduce difference between the current behavior and desired behavior of the adaptive garbage collector and the virtual machine, to collect and remove objects in the memory that are no longer used by the applications;
• wherein the adaptive garbage collector is configured to operate in both a mark phase and a sweep phase of garbage collection, including allowing the garbage collector to
• use one of a concurrent, parallel, and multigenerational garbage collection strategies during the mark phase of the garbage collection, and then
• switch to using a different one of the concurrent, parallel, and multi-generational garbage collection strategies during the sweep phase of the garbage collection, so as to adapt operation of the adaptive garbage collector to approach the desired behavior.