c ○ 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Manufactured in The Netherlands. Safe-for-Space Threads in Standard ML ∗

Abstract

Abstract. Threads can easily be implemented using first-class continuations, but the straightforward approaches for doing so lead to space leaks, especially in a language with exceptions like Standard ML. We show how these space leaks arise and give a new implementation for threads that is safe for space. Keywords: continuations, coroutines, Standard ML, space safety, thread