The GC module provides an interface to Ruby’s mark and sweep garbage collection mechanism.
Some of the underlying methods are also available via the ObjectSpace
module.
You may obtain information about the operation of the GC through GC::Profiler
.
Internal constants in the garbage collector.
GC build options
static VALUE
gc_get_auto_compact(VALUE _)
{
return RBOOL(ruby_enable_autocompact);
}
Returns whether or not automatic compaction has been enabled.
static VALUE
gc_set_auto_compact(VALUE _, VALUE v)
{
GC_ASSERT(GC_COMPACTION_SUPPORTED);
ruby_enable_autocompact = RTEST(v);
#if RGENGC_CHECK_MODE
ruby_autocompact_compare_func = NULL;
if (SYMBOL_P(v)) {
ID id = RB_SYM2ID(v);
if (id == rb_intern("empty")) {
ruby_autocompact_compare_func = compare_free_slots;
}
}
#endif
return v;
}
Updates automatic compaction mode.
When enabled, the compactor will execute on every major collection.
Enabling compaction will degrade performance on major collections.
static VALUE
gc_compact(VALUE self)
{
/* Run GC with compaction enabled */
gc_start_internal(NULL, self, Qtrue, Qtrue, Qtrue, Qtrue);
return gc_compact_stats(self);
}
This function compacts objects together in Ruby’s heap. It eliminates unused space (or fragmentation) in the heap by moving objects in to that unused space.
The returned hash
contains statistics about the objects that were moved; see GC.latest_compact_info
.
This method is only expected to work on CRuby.
To test whether GC compaction is supported, use the idiom:
GC.respond_to?(:compact)
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 105
def self.count
Primitive.gc_count
end
The number of times GC occurred.
It returns the number of times GC occurred since the process started.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 69
def self.disable
Primitive.gc_disable
end
Disables garbage collection, returning true
if garbage collection was already disabled.
GC.disable #=> false GC.disable #=> true
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 57
def self.enable
Primitive.gc_enable
end
Enables garbage collection, returning true
if garbage collection was previously disabled.
GC.disable #=> false GC.enable #=> true GC.enable #=> false
static VALUE
gc_compact_stats(VALUE self)
{
size_t i;
rb_objspace_t *objspace = &rb_objspace;
VALUE h = rb_hash_new();
VALUE considered = rb_hash_new();
VALUE moved = rb_hash_new();
VALUE moved_up = rb_hash_new();
VALUE moved_down = rb_hash_new();
for (i=0; i<T_MASK; i++) {
if (objspace->rcompactor.considered_count_table[i]) {
rb_hash_aset(considered, type_sym(i), SIZET2NUM(objspace->rcompactor.considered_count_table[i]));
}
if (objspace->rcompactor.moved_count_table[i]) {
rb_hash_aset(moved, type_sym(i), SIZET2NUM(objspace->rcompactor.moved_count_table[i]));
}
if (objspace->rcompactor.moved_up_count_table[i]) {
rb_hash_aset(moved_up, type_sym(i), SIZET2NUM(objspace->rcompactor.moved_up_count_table[i]));
}
if (objspace->rcompactor.moved_down_count_table[i]) {
rb_hash_aset(moved_down, type_sym(i), SIZET2NUM(objspace->rcompactor.moved_down_count_table[i]));
}
}
rb_hash_aset(h, ID2SYM(rb_intern("considered")), considered);
rb_hash_aset(h, ID2SYM(rb_intern("moved")), moved);
rb_hash_aset(h, ID2SYM(rb_intern("moved_up")), moved_up);
rb_hash_aset(h, ID2SYM(rb_intern("moved_down")), moved_down);
return h;
}
Returns information about object moved in the most recent GC compaction.
The returned hash
contains the following keys:
- considered
-
Hash
containing the type of the object as the key and the number of objects of that type that were considered for movement. - moved
-
Hash
containing the type of the object as the key and the number of objects of that type that were actually moved. - moved_up
-
Hash
containing the type of the object as the key and the number of objects of that type that were increased in size. - moved_down
-
Hash
containing the type of the object as the key and the number of objects of that type that were decreased in size.
Some objects can’t be moved (due to pinning) so these numbers can be used to calculate compaction efficiency.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 266
def self.latest_gc_info hash_or_key = nil
Primitive.gc_latest_gc_info hash_or_key
end
Returns information about the most recent garbage collection.
If the optional argument, hash, is given, it is overwritten and returned. This is intended to avoid probe effect.
static VALUE
gc_malloc_allocated_size(VALUE self)
{
return UINT2NUM(rb_objspace.malloc_params.allocated_size);
}
Returns the size of memory allocated by malloc().
Only available if ruby was built with CALC_EXACT_MALLOC_SIZE
.
static VALUE
gc_malloc_allocations(VALUE self)
{
return UINT2NUM(rb_objspace.malloc_params.allocations);
}
Returns the number of malloc() allocations.
Only available if ruby was built with CALC_EXACT_MALLOC_SIZE
.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 308
def self.measure_total_time
Primitive.cexpr! %{
RBOOL(rb_objspace.flags.measure_gc)
}
end
Return measure_total_time
flag (default: true
). Note that measurement can affect the application performance.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 296
def self.measure_total_time=(flag)
Primitive.cstmt! %{
rb_objspace.flags.measure_gc = RTEST(flag) ? TRUE : FALSE;
return flag;
}
end
Enable to measure GC time. You can get the result with GC.stat(:time)
. Note that GC time measurement can cause some performance overhead.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 38
def self.start full_mark: true, immediate_mark: true, immediate_sweep: true
Primitive.gc_start_internal full_mark, immediate_mark, immediate_sweep, false
end
Initiates garbage collection, even if manually disabled.
The full_mark
keyword argument determines whether or not to perform a major garbage collection cycle. When set to true
, a major garbage collection cycle is ran, meaning all objects are marked. When set to false
, a minor garbage collection cycle is ran, meaning only young objects are marked.
The immediate_mark
keyword argument determines whether or not to perform incremental marking. When set to true
, marking is completed during the call to this method. When set to false
, marking is performed in steps that is interleaved with future Ruby code execution, so marking might not be completed during this method call. Note that if full_mark
is false
then marking will always be immediate, regardless of the value of immediate_mark
.
The immediate_sweep
keyword argument determines whether or not to defer sweeping (using lazy sweep). When set to false
, sweeping is performed in steps that is interleaved with future Ruby code execution, so sweeping might not be completed during this method call. When set to true
, sweeping is completed during the call to this method.
Note: These keyword arguments are implementation and version dependent. They are not guaranteed to be future-compatible, and may be ignored if the underlying implementation does not support them.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 189
def self.stat hash_or_key = nil
Primitive.gc_stat hash_or_key
end
Returns a Hash
containing information about the GC.
The contents of the hash are implementation specific and may change in the future without notice.
The hash includes information about internal statistics about GC such as:
- count
-
The total number of garbage collections ran since application start (count includes both minor and major garbage collections)
- time
-
The total time spent in garbage collections (in milliseconds)
- heap_allocated_pages
-
The total number of
:heap_eden_pages
+:heap_tomb_pages
- heap_sorted_length
-
The number of pages that can fit into the buffer that holds references to all pages
- heap_allocatable_pages
-
The total number of pages the application could allocate without additional GC
- heap_available_slots
-
The total number of slots in all
:heap_allocated_pages
- heap_live_slots
-
The total number of slots which contain live objects
- heap_free_slots
-
The total number of slots which do not contain live objects
- heap_final_slots
-
The total number of slots with pending finalizers to be run
- heap_marked_slots
-
The total number of objects marked in the last GC
- heap_eden_pages
-
The total number of pages which contain at least one live slot
- heap_tomb_pages
-
The total number of pages which do not contain any live slots
- total_allocated_pages
-
The cumulative number of pages allocated since application start
- total_freed_pages
-
The cumulative number of pages freed since application start
- total_allocated_objects
-
The cumulative number of objects allocated since application start
- total_freed_objects
-
The cumulative number of objects freed since application start
- malloc_increase_bytes
-
Amount of memory allocated on the heap for objects. Decreased by any GC
- malloc_increase_bytes_limit
-
When
:malloc_increase_bytes
crosses this limit, GC is triggered - minor_gc_count
-
The total number of minor garbage collections run since process start
- major_gc_count
-
The total number of major garbage collections run since process start
- compact_count
-
The total number of compactions run since process start
- read_barrier_faults
-
The total number of times the read barrier was triggered during compaction
- total_moved_objects
-
The total number of objects compaction has moved
- remembered_wb_unprotected_objects
-
The total number of objects without write barriers
- remembered_wb_unprotected_objects_limit
-
When
:remembered_wb_unprotected_objects
crosses this limit, major GC is triggered - old_objects
-
Number of live, old objects which have survived at least 3 garbage collections
- old_objects_limit
-
When
:old_objects
crosses this limit, major GC is triggered - oldmalloc_increase_bytes
-
Amount of memory allocated on the heap for objects. Decreased by major GC
- oldmalloc_increase_bytes_limit
-
When
:old_malloc_increase_bytes
crosses this limit, major GC is triggered
If the optional argument, hash, is given, it is overwritten and returned. This is intended to avoid probe effect.
This method is only expected to work on CRuby.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 252
def self.stat_heap heap_name = nil, hash_or_key = nil
Primitive.gc_stat_heap heap_name, hash_or_key
end
Returns information for heaps in the GC.
If the first optional argument, heap_name
, is passed in and not nil
, it returns a Hash
containing information about the particular heap. Otherwise, it will return a Hash
with heap names as keys and a Hash
containing information about the heap as values.
If the second optional argument, hash_or_key
, is given as Hash
, it will be overwritten and returned. This is intended to avoid the probe effect.
If both optional arguments are passed in and the second optional argument is a symbol, it will return a Numeric
of the value for the particular heap.
On CRuby, heap_name
is of the type Integer
but may be of type String
on other implementations.
The contents of the hash are implementation specific and may change in the future without notice.
If the optional argument, hash, is given, it is overwritten and returned.
This method is only expected to work on CRuby.
The hash includes the following keys about the internal information in the GC:
- slot_size
-
The slot size of the heap in bytes.
- heap_allocatable_pages
-
The number of pages that can be allocated without triggering a new garbage collection cycle.
- heap_eden_pages
-
The number of pages in the eden heap.
- heap_eden_slots
-
The total number of slots in all of the pages in the eden heap.
- heap_tomb_pages
-
The number of pages in the tomb heap. The tomb heap only contains pages that do not have any live objects.
- heap_tomb_slots
-
The total number of slots in all of the pages in the tomb heap.
- total_allocated_pages
-
The total number of pages that have been allocated in the heap.
- total_freed_pages
-
The total number of pages that have been freed and released back to the system in the heap.
- force_major_gc_count
-
The number of times major garbage collection cycles this heap has forced to start due to running out of free slots.
- force_incremental_marking_finish_count
-
The number of times this heap has forced incremental marking to complete due to running out of pooled slots.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 77
def self.stress
Primitive.gc_stress_get
end
Returns current status of GC stress mode.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 95
def self.stress=(flag)
Primitive.gc_stress_set_m flag
end
Updates the GC stress mode.
When stress mode is enabled, the GC is invoked at every GC opportunity: all memory and object allocations.
Enabling stress mode will degrade performance, it is only for debugging.
flag can be true, false, or an integer bit-ORed following flags.
0x01:: no major GC 0x02:: no immediate sweep 0x04:: full mark after malloc/calloc/realloc
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 318
def self.total_time
Primitive.cexpr! %{
ULL2NUM(rb_objspace.profile.marking_time_ns + rb_objspace.profile.sweeping_time_ns)
}
end
Return measured GC total time in nano seconds.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 285
def self.verify_compaction_references(toward: nil, double_heap: false, expand_heap: false)
Primitive.gc_verify_compaction_references(double_heap, expand_heap, toward == :empty)
end
Verify compaction reference consistency.
This method is implementation specific. During compaction, objects that were moved are replaced with T_MOVED objects. No object should have a reference to a T_MOVED object after compaction.
This function expands the heap to ensure room to move all objects, compacts the heap to make sure everything moves, updates all references, then performs a full GC. If any object contains a reference to a T_MOVED object, that object should be pushed on the mark stack, and will make a SEGV.
static VALUE
gc_verify_internal_consistency_m(VALUE dummy)
{
gc_verify_internal_consistency(&rb_objspace);
return Qnil;
}
Verify internal consistency.
This method is implementation specific. Now this method checks generational consistency if RGenGC is supported.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.4.0-preview1/gc.rb, line 43
def garbage_collect full_mark: true, immediate_mark: true, immediate_sweep: true
Primitive.gc_start_internal full_mark, immediate_mark, immediate_sweep, false
end
Alias of GC.start