Meshilon: A Merging-based Java Garbage Collector
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Modern Garbage Collectors (GCs) compact memory by moving objects. This design requires updating all references pointing to relocated objects to avoid dangling pointers and application crashes. Having to constantly update references introduces additional complexity and can reduce the performance of GCs. This paper presents Meshilon, a non-moving GC for Java that compacts memory by leveraging virtual-to-physical page mapping to maintain the address of all live objects. To the application, its objects are never moved, while memory is freed back to the OS. Meshilon minimizes internal fragmentation by reusing free space that cannot be returned to the OS. Meshilon achieves mixed results, being able to reduce memory usage temporarily, but often increasing average memory usage. The paper also analyzes Meshilon's shortcomings and proposes potential improvements for future work.
Authors: Ognjen Marinkovic, Khanh Nguyen
Institutions: University of Belgrade, Texas A&M University
Language: English
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W7087093476