Question

Describe the lazy and eager approaches to reclaiming garbage

Answer 1

The lazy approach to reclaiming garbage uses the mark and sweep algorithm that incorporates the two phases – mark and sweep. The reclamation occurs when the list containing the variable spaces becomes empty.

The easy approach to reclaiming garbage uses the reference counting algorithm that incorporates the process of tracking the number of references to an object by other objects. When the count becomes zero, the object is reclaimed for destruction. The reclamation is a gradual process.