Memory Reclamation: Techniques and Algorithms

This lecture by the instructor covers the concept of memory reclamation, emphasizing the importance of managing finite memory resources. It discusses traditional techniques like Automatic Garbage Collection and Explicit Memory Management, contrasting languages like Java and C/C++. The lecture delves into the challenges of Memory Reclamation in concurrent processes, presenting Lock-free Reference Counting and Hazard Pointers as solutions. It explains the principles behind Hazard Pointers, Reachability, and the process of reclaiming memory. The lecture also introduces Epoch-based Reclamation (EBR) as a method to track progress among processes for efficient memory management. Finally, it explores the hybrid approach of QSense, combining the strengths of Cadence and EBR for optimal performance and reliability.