Garbage collector problem ???

[Alexandre Petit-Bianco]

Boehm, Hans writes:

> That would be safe for Java arrays if we knew that the compiler
> always kept a pointer to the array itself while the array could
> still be dereferenced.

You mean (1) always address an array element with an arithmetic that
starts from the pointer to the array object? Or (2) always keep a
pointer to the array object around, while addressing on of its
element?

The current front-end does (1), though this can be optimized in weird
ways. I'm not sure (2) is guaranteed, because of optimizations.

> I believe currently the front end ensures that, but not in a way
> that ensures the back end will preserve the property.

I'll see if some hints can be passed to the middle and back-end.

./A