Inside memory management on the BEAM

on YouTube ↗01h 07m

" summary

Explains why the BEAM cannot turn off garbage collector (per-process heaps and contiguous heap+stack), shows using spawn_opt minimum heap 65535 words vs default ~233 to reduce GC spikes, and implements memory measurement by tracing GC events with erlang:trace/3. Covers generational GC (minor vs major heaps), a bug fix to include old-heap accounting, and a race fix that starts the tracer before setting the trace flag; the final Benjy/Vinci feature works reliably.

AI-written summary · about

" chapters (14)

1. 0:00Introduction
2. 7:00SpawnOpt
3. 20:52Bugs
4. 23:34Debugging
5. 27:47What can you do
6. 35:20Memory management on the BEAM
7. 38:40Snapshots
8. 39:07Garbage collection
9. 40:45Runtime measurements
10. 41:45Spawn opt
11. 45:19The solution
12. 50:13The module
13. 52:05Start tracer function
14. 55:01The second heap

" related talks

• 48mGetting to Know the Erlang Virtual Machine, the BEAMNorberto Ortigoza · Mexico City Erlang Factory Lite 2015
• 29mSqueezing the BEAM into 16MBPeer Stritzinger · Code BEAM Lite Stockholm 2025
• 42mMemory Management: Battle StoriesLukas Larsson · Erlang Factory SF Bay Area 2014
• 44mBattling Memory Leaks: Tales from the Trenches at WhatsAppMiriam Pena · Code BEAM America 2025
• 19mErlang/OTP UpdateBjörn Gustavsson · Code BEAM Lite Stockholm 2026
• 24mFantastic Voyage III: Destination BEAMBrian L Troutwine · Code BEAM SF 2019
• 24mThe Yin and Yang of MutabilityPéter Gömöri · Code BEAM Lite Amsterdam 2019
• 42mThe Soul of Erlang and ElixirSaša Jurić · GOTO Chicago 2019