As you work on your final projects for the course, we will look at a few research papers in operating systems. This is an opportunity to identify important issues and creative approaches to those issues in the research community, but also a chance to see how systems work is motivated, presented, and evaluated. Please answer each of the questions below after reading the assigned paper linked on the course schedule page.
Question 1: Problem
What problem does garbage collection solve? Describe the issue and how garbage collection solves it in 3–5 sentences.
Question 2: Approaches
The assigned paper describes several techniques for implementing garbage collection. Choose two and explain what makes them different in 3–5 sentences.
Question 3: Positives
What are the advantages of using a garbage collector? List at least two items.
Question 4: Negatives
What are the disadvantages of using a garbage collector? List at least two items.
Question 5: Discussion Points
What do you find interesting, confusing, or surprising about garbage collection? List at least two ideas or questions you believe would contribute to a productive discussion about this topic.