[erlang-questions] Re: Shared/Hybrid Heap

[Jeff Schultz]

On Wed, Nov 03, 2010 at 10:47:05PM -0400, Ryan Zezeski wrote:
> What is wrong about using a mutable data structure that can only ever be
> touched by _one_ and only _one_ process?  Then, if this process wants to

Well, mutability may impose a significant cost on all but the simplest
garbage collectors, and part of that cost will be paid even if nothing
mutable is being mutated.  Whether this is a net performance gain or
loss will vary with the circumstances, but it's not an inevitable win.

The extra complexity may also lead to more, usually nasty, garbage
collection bugs.


    Jeff Schultz