If a foreign pointer object corresponds to memory that was not allocated by the GC garbage collector, then a function to properly deallocate this memory when the Pointer object that stores this pointer is garbage collected should be called. The function should take a single argument, a foreign object, typically of type voidstar, which corresponds to the memory to deallocate.
i1 : malloc = foreignFunction("malloc", voidstar, ulong)
o1 = malloc
o1 : ForeignFunction
|
i2 : free = foreignFunction("free", void, voidstar)
o2 = free
o2 : ForeignFunction
|
i3 : finalizer = x -> (print("freeing memory at " | net x); free x)
o3 = finalizer
o3 : FunctionClosure
|
i4 : for i to 9 do (x := malloc 8; registerFinalizer(x, finalizer))
|
i5 : collectGarbage()
freeing memory at 0xffff600684b0
freeing memory at 0xffff60068490
freeing memory at 0xffff60068240
freeing memory at 0xffff60068260
freeing memory at 0xffff60068a90
freeing memory at 0xffff60068200
freeing memory at 0xffff60065ac0
freeing memory at 0xffff60068b50
freeing memory at 0xffff60068220
|