Patent ID: 6845385

Claim:
A method for invoking a write barrier during real-time computer garbage collection, for use with a plurality of data objects and with one or more mutator programs, each one of said mutators having a corresponding thread and each one of said mutator threads having a corresponding thread state separate from said plurality of data objects, said method comprising the steps of: temporarily restricting execution of said mutators during a garbage collection cycle, while processing the corresponding thread state for each one of said mutators; permitting each one of said mutators to resume unrestricted execution, as soon as said mutator's own corresponding thread state has been processed; identifying each one of said objects that is currently accessible to at least one of said mutators; and executing said mutators subject to a write barrier which is invoked when said mutators modify pointers within said plurality of data objects but not when said mutators modify pointers within said thread states.