LC

Implement Reference Counting GC

easy5/8

Implement Write Barriers for GC Understand Concurrent Garbage Collection

Language

Compiler

2.0s Limit 256MB

Implementation

Implement reference counting garbage collector.

Requirements:

Track reference counts for objects
Increment count on new reference
Decrement count on reference removal
Free objects when count reaches zero
Handle basic object graphs
Test with various reference patterns

Why This Matters

Reference counting is the memory management of CPython (every PyObject carries a refcount), Swift (ARC), and C++/Rust smart pointers — and its cycle blindness is why Python needs a separate cycle detector and why Rc must be paired with Weak. Implementing it teaches the exact tradeoff Apple accepted with ARC: predictable reclamation for cycle risk.

Hints

0 / 3 revealed

Validation Suite

main.c

Workspace 1.0