12 Aug 2011 Medford/Somerville - Efforts to improve how computer programmes manage memory without sacrificing security have earned Sam Guyer, an assistant professor of computer science in the Tufts University School of Engineering, an early career award from
12 Aug 2011 Medford/Somerville - Efforts to improve how computer programmes manage memory without sacrificing security have earned Sam Guyer, an assistant professor of computer science in the Tufts University School of Engineering, an early career award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). With the $443,000, five-year NSF grant, Sam Guyer will explore a new approach to improving virtual machines - complex pieces of software that manage computing resources such as memory.
Modern managed computer programming languages, such as Java and C#, eliminate many errors and security risks that have plagued traditional languages such as C and C++. But this security comes at a price: programmes written in managed languages are more expensive to run because they require more computing resources.
This creates a dilemma for programmers, Sam Guyer noted. "They can use a safe and secure managed language that requires more memory and server resources or they can continue taking chances with languages such as C and C++."
To solve this problem cost-effectively, Sam Guyer wants to improve the virtual machine by strengthening the process of "garbage collection". The garbage collector identifies what regions of application data are no longer needed by the programme. Then it deletes this data, freeing up vital space for later computations.
But current garbage collection techniques have trouble identifying the trash. "The problem with existi