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<H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: <A HREF="mailto:silovic#srce,hr">silovic#srce,hr</A> (Miroslav Silovic)</LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 26 May 1997 23:52:26 +0200 (MET DST)</LI>
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<PRE>
> [Miro:]
>
> :(I consider GC to be the key feature of a MUD language, after
> :incredible ammount of time wasted on tracing leaks, bad access,
> :and similar problems. C++ constructors and destructors alleviate
> :this problem, but if you run out of luck, not even Purify will
> :save you.)
>
> Is that in the MUD language, or the language used to implement the MUD?
>
> Neither of mine has a garbage collector. The implementation language is
> like C with syntax. The MUD language has types like strings, lists, tables,
> etc. mostly stored in the database (not strings, which are not use-
> counted). When a db entity's usecount goes to zero, it is deleted, and
> the use-counts of anything it points at decremented, etc.
Refcounting actually /is/ a form of garbage collector (provided that your
access mechanism disallows cycles... you did think of that little problem?)
But yes, I wanted to say that gc is absolutely essential for MUD language.
As for the language in which the MUD is implemented, gc still helps a lot
if you're not in too much hurry. I did some debugging of /really/ weird
refcounting problems... basically refcounts begin to suck when you find out
that Purify won't always tell you when they hang. :/
My experience with true gc (I used conservative gc with a trully nasty
brew of C and Scheme code) is that you really *NEVER* get bugs that are
hard to find. The worst case, when I forget to mark refs that shouldn't
be swept cause crash so quickly that you can easily see the cause from
the coredump.
Miro
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00778" HREF="msg00778.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA (Chris Gray)</LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00779" HREF="msg00779.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 00:10 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00780" HREF="msg00780.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 00:10 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00778" HREF="msg00778.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 00:17 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00797" HREF="msg00797.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Nathan Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 05:20 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00856" HREF="msg00856.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Miroslav Silovic <a href="mailto:silovic#srce,hr">silovic#srce,hr</a>, Wed 28 May 1997, 01:24 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00784" HREF="msg00784.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 01:08 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00786" HREF="msg00786.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 01:36 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00787" HREF="msg00787.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 01:51 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00788" HREF="msg00788.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Languages</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Mon 26 May 1997, 02:03 GMT
</LI>
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