[sldev] Memory Allocation Algorithms and Tools - Script Limits

[Darrius Gothly]

Wandering thru the recent posts on memory and resource allocation schemes, 
one thing becomes quite clear. There are a ton of different ways to 
instrument and allocate the resources, but we won't find a good one until 
such time as we "Consumers" of those resources (meaning script writers) have 
the proper tools to accurately measure and *also* to take purposeful steps 
to reduce or eliminate our use of resources period.

I've seen proposals that say "we need a full-blown memory management 
library" .. in LSL? The language that makes BASIC look cryptic? Sorry, not 
buying it.

How about this one instead?

New statement: llEnd() - This script is done, dead, finished, kaput, pushing 
up the daisies .. whatever. All it had is yours again dear Sim. May it rest 
in peace.

The only way to restart it is to manually "Reset" it. As has been mentioned, 
many of the most common scripts start up, do something that will persist 
past their lifetime, then stop. But just cuz they stopped doesn't mean they 
let go their 16KB (or 64KB for MONO). However, if they ended with an llEnd() 
statement .. no guessing needed there.

The infamous "hair example"? Owner selects then "Resets" hair. Every script 
gets reset and comes alive. Resizer runs .. owner picks proper size and 
clicks "Done" ... EVERY script goes "llEnd()" End of problem. You now have 
hair perfectly sized (until your next shape or mood change) and you're not 
walking around with 200 or 1000 scripts worth of memory usage. Wanna change 
your hair again? No sweat ..

These sorts of simple extensions to the language would give even beginning 
scripters the ability to write memory efficient (and thus polite) scripts 
without having to master the art of proper memory pool and cache management.

k .. nuff said ... llEnd();