@@ -471,25 +471,32 @@ thrashing.
471471Alternative Memory Context Implementations
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473473
474- aset.c is our default general-purpose implementation, working fine
475- in most situations. We also have two implementations optimized for
476- special use cases, providing either better performance or lower memory
477- usage compared to aset.c (or both).
478-
479- * slab.c (SlabContext) is designed for allocations of fixed-length
480- chunks, and does not allow allocations of chunks with different size.
481-
482- * generation.c (GenerationContext) is designed for cases when chunks
483- are allocated in groups with similar lifespan (generations), or
484- roughly in FIFO order.
485-
486- Both memory contexts aim to free memory back to the operating system
487- (unlike aset.c, which keeps the freed chunks in a freelist, and only
488- returns the memory when reset/deleted).
489-
490- These memory contexts were initially developed for ReorderBuffer, but
491- may be useful elsewhere as long as the allocation patterns match.
492-
474+ aset.c (AllocSetContext) is our default general-purpose allocator. Three other
475+ allocator types also exist which are special-purpose:
476+
477+ * slab.c (SlabContext) is designed for allocations of fixed-sized
478+ chunks. The fixed chunk size must be specified when creating the context.
479+ New chunks are allocated to the fullest block, keeping used chunks densely
480+ packed together to avoid memory fragmentation. This also increases the
481+ chances that pfree'ing a chunk will result in a block becoming empty of all
482+ chunks and allow it to be free'd back to the operating system.
483+
484+ * generation.c (GenerationContext) is best suited for cases when chunks are
485+ allocated in groups with similar lifespan (generations), or roughly in FIFO
486+ order. No attempt is made to reuse space left by pfree'd chunks. Blocks
487+ are returned to the operating system when all chunks on them have been
488+ pfree'd.
489+
490+ * bump.c (BumpContext) is best suited for use cases that require densely
491+ allocated chunks of memory that never need to be individually pfree'd or
492+ repalloc'd. These operations are unsupported due to BumpContext chunks
493+ having no chunk header. No chunk header means more densely packed chunks,
494+ which is especially useful for workloads that perform lots of small
495+ allocations. Blocks are only free'd back to the operating system when the
496+ context is reset or deleted.
497+
498+ For further details, please read the header comment in the corresponding .c
499+ file.
493500
494501Memory Accounting
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