Patent ID: 7840612

Claim:
A method of performing garbage collection for an application program which is not a garbage collection program, the method comprising the acts of: executing computer instructions of a garbage collection program on one or more processors, the garbage collection program being configured to identify a root set of referenced objects of the application program with use of a reference indicator array and to perform a mark and sweep process based on the root set of referenced objects, the reference indicator array having a plurality of reference indicators where each referenced indicator corresponding to a referenced object is set as referenced; and executing computer instructions of the application program on the one or more processors including during the execution of the mark and sweep process of the garbage collection program, the computer instructions of the application program being based on an instruction set which is defined by a plurality of opcodes or native codes, the plurality of opcodes or native codes including: a single predefined opcode or a single predefined native code which is a get object reference instruction configured to, when executed by the application program, both (1) retrieve a reference from a target object, and (2) set one of the reference indicators corresponding to the target object as referenced in the reference indicator array.