Computing

[From the last episode: We saw how virtual memory helps resolve the differences between where a compiler thinks things will go in memory and the real memories in a real system.] We’ve talked a lot about memory – different kinds of memory, cache memory, heap memory, memory. Now that we […]

[From the last episode: We looked at the role of a hard drive and the need to bring chunks of code from the hard drive onto DRAM.] Last time, we saw that we may need to load code from the hard drive into DRAM, and that creates some confusion about […]

[From the last episode: We saw how gaps in heap memory can be eliminated through garbage collection.] So far we’ve seen several aspects of the hierarchy of computer memory. We know that the fastest memory is SRAM, but it’s expensive and energy-hungry, so we don’t have enough of it to […]

[From the last episode: We saw how engineers organize working memory in computing systems.] We’ve seen how heap memory can provide a flexible way of allocation chunks of memory on-the-go. The chunks aren’t planned ahead of time; it’s a real-time thing: when the program, for whatever reason, needs more memory, […]

[From the last episode: We summarized the last several weeks of computing posts.] We’ve talked about processors and we’ve talked about several kinds of memories. Today we’re going to focus in on the memory used when a program is running. We’re not talking about permanent storage here; we’re talking about […]