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comp.lang.ruby

Memory implications for persistent Proc objects

Farrel Lifson

11/8/2008 10:10:00 PM

What are the memory implications for keeping a Proc/closure around
especially those that are defined in a global scope? Is Ruby clever
enough not to keep objects in the Proc closure that are never
referenced in that closure? I'm worried where I have the following
scenario

big_object = BigObjectNeedsLotsOfRAM.new
my_proc = Proc.new { ... } # big_object not referenced in my_proc
big_object = nil
my_proc.call

Will the memory allocated to big_object remain in use because it was
alive when my_proc was created despite it not being referenced or used
in my_proc?

Farrel
1 Answer

Brian Candler

11/9/2008 8:10:00 AM

0

Farrel Lifson wrote:
> big_object = BigObjectNeedsLotsOfRAM.new
> my_proc = Proc.new { ... } # big_object not referenced in my_proc
> big_object = nil
> my_proc.call
>
> Will the memory allocated to big_object remain in use because it was
> alive when my_proc was created despite it not being referenced or used
> in my_proc?

Clearly not, because big_object has been assigned to nil. That is:
big_object may exist in the environment of my_proc, but it's the *same*
big_object variable that you've assigned outside too.

Now, if you had not assigned to big_object, but just let it drop out of
scope, then I wouldn't be so sure. However you said explicitly that
you're only interested in what happens at the top level, and you can't
make things drop out of scope at that level.
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