SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY SELECTING A GARBAGE COLLECTION ALGORITHM BASED ON THE CONTENTS OF HEAP REGIONS

A system and method for dynamically selecting a garbage collection algorithm based on the contents of heap regions. In accordance with an embodiment, a software application can be instrumented so that the system can place software objects allocated by the application, or by different parts of the application, into different regions of the heap. When garbage collection is invoked, the system can scan the heap, examine object statistics to determine if particular objects are, e.g., short-lived, long-lived, or some other type of object, and then use this information to determine which garbage collection algorithm to use with particular heap regions. In accordance with an embodiment, the system can identify regions as containing particular object types, for example, movable or non-movable object types, or object liveness, and use different garbage collection algorithms accordingly. Different garbage collection algorithms can be used with different regions, based on their content at a particular time.