[P1] weird netscape

[david]

On 9/20/03 4:12 PM, "don hinkle" <donhinkle at att.net> wrote:

> I was glad when I upgraded to OS X and got a newer Netscape to browse
> with. Under OS 9, the Netscape 4.x I was using kept using up memory and
> not returning it so eventually it would crash and I'd have to reboot.
> Now, however, using "Memory Usage Getter," which keeps track of what's
> using what resources, I find that each time I activate Netscape--that
> is, dial up and connect--it takes more RAM. It starts out at a modest
> 41MB and keeps building. Now it's up to 72MB; eventually it will shoot
> past the 80MB mark and head for 160. At which point, I'll have to Quit
> the program and restart.
> 
> Can someone explain why it behaves this way, like a houseguest who
> starts out meekly, staying out of the way, but gradually becomes more
> and more obnoxious, cleaning out the fridge, occupying the couch and the
> remote control, etc. (stopping before this metaphor runs away with me...)
> 
Netscape is a great example of how good software goes bad. New code is added
to old and new features are added at such a break neck pace that old code
isn't debugged before the new features are added in. And if that isn't bad
enough, C++, the programming language it (and most modern software) is
itself a terrible kluge.

What you are witnessing is called a memory leak. All programs request memory
allocation to perform a task. When that task is finished the memory is
supposed to be returned to the computer. However, that doesn't always happen
(programmer error) so the program uses more and more memory until - BOOM.
That's why Mac operating systems prior to OS X and Windows operating systems
prior to Win2k became less stable during the day and required period
rebooting.

If you are using Jaguar (10.2) you might want to try out Safari. Mozilla
(the open source version of Netscape) is also pretty decent.

david

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davidwb at spymac.com