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 0x7fa2a00663f0
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a00663d0
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a0066c90
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a000de30
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a0068720
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a0068740
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a0068e50
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a0068dc0
freeing memory at 0x7fa2a0066410
|