Beyond Linux From Scratch - Version 6.2.0

Chapter 12. Programming

GC-6.8

Introduction to GC

The GC package contains the Boehm-Demers-Weiser conservative garbage collector, which can be used as a garbage collecting replacement for the C malloc function or C++ new operator. It allows you to allocate memory basically as you normally would, without explicitly deallocating memory that is no longer useful. The collector automatically recycles memory when it determines that it can no longer be otherwise accessed. The collector is also used by a number of programming language implementations that either use C as intermediate code, want to facilitate easier interoperation with C libraries, or just prefer the simple collector interface. Alternatively, the garbage collector may be used as a leak detector for C or C++ programs, though that is not its primary goal.

Package Information

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/gc

Installation of GC

Install GC by running the following commands: 

sed -i "s|\$(datadir)/@PACKAGE@|&-6.8|" doc/Makefile.in &&
./configure --prefix=/usr \
    --datadir=/usr/share/doc --enable-cplusplus &&
make

To test the results, issue: make check.

Now, as the root user: 

make install &&
install -v -m644 doc/gc.man /usr/share/man/man3/gc_malloc.3 &&
ln -v -s gc_malloc.3 /usr/share/man/man3/gc.3

Command Explanations

sed -i "s|\$(datadir)/@PACKAGE@|&-6.8|" ...: This command appends “-6.8” to the default documentation installation path of /usr/share/doc/gc.

--datadir=/usr/share/doc: This parameter changes the installation path of the documentation to /usr/share/doc/gc instead of /usr/share/gc.

--enable-cplusplus: This parameter forces the building and installation of the C++ library along with the standard C library.

Contents

Installed Programs: None
Installed Libraries: libgc.{so,a} and libgccpp.{so,a}
Installed Directories: /usr/include/gc and /usr/share/doc/gc-6.8

Short Descriptions

libgc.{so,a}

contains a C interface to the conservative garbage collector, primarily designed to replace the C malloc function.

libgccpp.{so,a}

contains a C++ interface to the conservative garbage collector.

Last updated on 2007-01-31 02:38:08 -0600