Section 36: Memory Model and Allocation Semantics¶

TECHSPEC-36 — Section 36 · Version 0.1 · Status: Initial Draft

Status: draft. This section is an Initial Draft (Section 57 is a Working Register). It describes intended or proposed behavior, not a finalized, implemented language rule. Do not treat examples here as normative.

1. Memory Philosophy¶

Memory management must prioritize safety, predictable ownership, and resource integrity.

The language must prevent invalid memory access, uncontrolled allocation, and resource leaks without requiring AI agents to manually manage every allocation.

Memory behavior must be defined by the language rather than inherited accidentally from the compilation target.

2. Memory Categories¶

The language must distinguish between:

Stack storage: Temporary execution data associated with function calls and local execution scopes.
Managed heap storage: Dynamically allocated objects whose memory lifetime is managed by the runtime.
Static storage: Data that exists for the lifetime of the program or module.
External resources: Resources such as files, connections, and operating-system handles that require explicit lifecycle management.

These categories describe storage behavior, not permission to bypass ownership rules.

3. Allocation¶

Memory allocation must follow defined language rules.

Rules: - Local values should use appropriate storage automatically. - Dynamic allocation must respect ownership and lifetime rules. - Allocation failure must be observable. - Memory allocation must not silently produce invalid references. - Collection growth must follow documented allocation behavior. - Allocation limits must be configurable where practical.

4. Memory Ownership¶

Every dynamically managed resource must have an identifiable ownership model.

Rules: - Mutable values must follow the ownership and borrowing rules. - Ownership transfers must be explicit. - Multiple mutable owners must not bypass mutation restrictions. - References must not outlive their valid storage. - Released memory must not remain accessible. - Ownership rules must apply consistently across execution targets.

5. Automatic Memory Management¶

The initial runtime should provide automatic memory reclamation for eligible managed objects.

Rules: - Unreachable managed objects may be reclaimed automatically. - Garbage collection must not invalidate live references. - Garbage collection timing must not be treated as deterministic unless explicitly guaranteed. - Programs must not depend on garbage collection to release external resources. - Finalization must not be used as the primary cleanup mechanism for files, connections, or other external resources.

6. Memory Safety¶

The language must prevent or detect:

Use-after-free.
Double release.
Dangling references.
Buffer overflows.
Invalid memory access.
Uninitialized memory reads.
Unauthorized memory mutation.
Invalid pointer arithmetic.
Memory corruption.

Unsafe memory operations must require explicit declarations and permissions.

The MVP should avoid exposing raw memory manipulation unless a specific implementation requirement makes it necessary.

7. Memory Limits and Resource Exhaustion¶

Programs must have observable memory consumption and resource limits.

Rules: - Runtime memory limits should be configurable. - Allocation failures must produce explicit errors where recoverable. - Excessive allocation must not silently corrupt program state. - Resource exhaustion must be distinguishable from ordinary application errors. - Memory usage measurements must identify whether values are exact or estimated.

8. Memory and Concurrency¶

Concurrent execution must respect memory ownership and synchronization rules.

Rules: - Shared mutable memory must require an approved synchronization mechanism. - Concurrent access must not bypass borrowing restrictions. - Memory visibility between tasks must follow defined synchronization semantics. - Data races must be prevented or detected where supported. - The runtime must not promise deterministic concurrent behavior without sufficient guarantees.

9. Compiler and Runtime Responsibilities¶

The compiler and runtime must: - Track memory ownership and lifetimes. - Enforce reference validity. - Prevent prohibited memory access. - Manage eligible heap allocations. - Detect invalid resource usage where possible. - Report allocation failures. - Enforce memory limits. - Preserve memory semantics across compilation targets.

10. Verification Limitations¶

The language must distinguish between:

Memory safety established through static analysis.
Memory safety enforced through runtime checks.
Memory reclamation performed by the runtime.
Resource cleanup attempted.
Resource cleanup confirmed.
Memory behavior that remains unverified.

Automatic memory management does not prove that a program has no memory leaks or resource exhaustion risks.

11. Design Goal¶

An AI agent must be able to write programs without manually managing ordinary memory while retaining explicit control over ownership, resource lifetimes, and memory-sensitive operations.

Memory safety must be a language guarantee wherever it can be enforced, not a convention left to the agent.

Source file: TECHSPEC-36.md (preserved in source-original/LANG/). See the specification index, the glossary, and the cross-reference index.