From 4c744bf2d69cd9f1155152525a57574c71078978 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jesse Brault <jbrault@mac.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2026 21:05:13 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Sketching mem.

---
 dvm-lib/mem.md        |  49 ++++++++++++++
 dvm-lib/src/lib.rs    |   2 +
 dvm-lib/src/vm/mem.rs | 148 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 dvm-lib/src/vm/mod.rs |   1 +
 4 files changed, 200 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 dvm-lib/mem.md
 create mode 100644 dvm-lib/src/vm/mem.rs

diff --git a/dvm-lib/mem.md b/dvm-lib/mem.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc97742
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dvm-lib/mem.md
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Object/Memory/Heap Concepts for Deimos/DVM
+
+```rust
+use std::any::TypeId;
+
+trait Trace {
+    fn grays(&self) -> &[GcAny];
+}
+
+struct Gc<T: Trace> {
+    inner: *mut GcInner<T>,
+}
+
+impl<T> Gc {
+    fn data(&self) -> &T {
+        &self.inner.data
+    }
+}
+
+struct GcMut<T: Trace> {
+    inner: *mut GcInner<T>,
+}
+
+struct GcInner<T: Trace> {
+    data: T,
+    gc_count: usize,
+    gc_mut_count: bool,
+    next: Option<GcAny>,
+    color: bool,
+}
+
+struct GcAny {
+    inner: *mut (), // like void* in C
+    v_table: *const GcAnyVTable,
+    type_id: *const TypeId,
+}
+
+enum Value {
+    Object(Gc<Object>),
+    Int(i32),
+    String(Gc<String>),
+    Null
+}
+
+struct Object {
+    class: *const Class,
+
+}
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dvm-lib/src/lib.rs b/dvm-lib/src/lib.rs
index 88c25a3..03b2088 100644
--- a/dvm-lib/src/lib.rs
+++ b/dvm-lib/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+#![feature(ptr_metadata)]
+
 pub mod instruction;
 pub mod platform_function;
 pub mod vm;
diff --git a/dvm-lib/src/vm/mem.rs b/dvm-lib/src/vm/mem.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c7431e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dvm-lib/src/vm/mem.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+use std::any::TypeId;
+use std::ptr::Pointee;
+use std::rc::Rc;
+use std::sync::OnceLock;
+
+trait Trace {
+    fn grays(&self) -> Vec<GcAny>;
+}
+
+struct Gc<T: Trace + ?Sized> {
+    inner: *mut GcInner<T>,
+}
+
+impl<T: Trace + ?Sized> Gc<T> {
+    fn from_inner(inner: *mut GcInner<T>) -> Self {
+        Self { inner }
+    }
+
+    fn data(&self) -> &T {
+        unsafe { &(*self.inner).data }
+    }
+
+    fn data_mut(&mut self) -> &mut T {
+        unsafe { &mut (*self.inner).data }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T: Trace + ?Sized + 'static> Gc<T> {
+    fn erase(&self) -> GcAny {
+        GcAny::from_gc_inner(self.inner)
+    }
+}
+
+struct GcMut<T: Trace> {
+    inner: *mut GcInner<T>,
+}
+
+struct GcInner<T: Trace + ?Sized> {
+    borrow_count: usize,
+    borrow_mut_count: bool,
+    next: Option<GcAny>,
+    color: bool,
+    data: T,
+}
+
+impl<T: Trace> GcInner<T> {
+    fn new(data: T) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            borrow_count: 0,
+            borrow_mut_count: false,
+            next: None,
+            color: false,
+            data,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+struct GcAny {
+    inner_ptr: *mut (),            // like void* in C
+    inner_ptr_metadata: *const (), // type-erased metadata
+    v_table: *const GcAnyVTable,
+    type_id: *const TypeId,
+}
+
+impl GcAny {
+    fn from_gc_inner<T: Trace + ?Sized + 'static>(gc_inner: *mut GcInner<T>) -> Self {
+        fn trace<T: Trace + ?Sized>(
+            inner_ptr: *const (),
+            inner_ptr_metadata: *const (),
+        ) -> Vec<GcAny> {
+            let metadata: <GcInner<T> as Pointee>::Metadata =
+                unsafe { std::mem::transmute_copy(&inner_ptr_metadata) };
+            let gc_inner: *const GcInner<T> = std::ptr::from_raw_parts(inner_ptr, metadata);
+            unsafe { &*gc_inner }.data.grays()
+        }
+
+        let (inner_ptr, metadata) = gc_inner.to_raw_parts();
+        let inner_pointer_metadata = unsafe { std::mem::transmute_copy(&metadata) };
+
+        static V_TABLE: OnceLock<GcAnyVTable> = OnceLock::new();
+        let v_table = V_TABLE.get_or_init(|| GcAnyVTable { trace: trace::<T> });
+
+        static TYPE_ID: OnceLock<TypeId> = OnceLock::new();
+        let type_id = TYPE_ID.get_or_init(|| TypeId::of::<T>());
+
+        Self {
+            inner_ptr,
+            inner_ptr_metadata: inner_pointer_metadata,
+            v_table,
+            type_id,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn trace(&self) -> Vec<GcAny> {
+        ((unsafe { &*self.v_table }).trace)(self.inner_ptr, self.inner_ptr_metadata)
+    }
+
+    fn is<T: 'static>(&self) -> bool {
+        unsafe { *self.type_id == TypeId::of::<T>() }
+    }
+
+    fn downcast<T: Trace + 'static>(&self) -> Option<Gc<T>> {
+        if self.is::<T>() {
+            Some(Gc::from_inner(self.inner_ptr as *mut GcInner<T>))
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+struct GcAnyVTable {
+    trace: fn(*const (), *const ()) -> Vec<GcAny>,
+}
+
+enum Value {
+    Object(Gc<Object>),
+    Int(i32),
+    String(Gc<str>),
+    Null,
+}
+
+struct Class {
+    name: Rc<str>,
+}
+
+#[repr(C)]
+struct Object {
+    class: *const Class,
+    fields: [Value],
+}
+
+impl Trace for Object {
+    fn grays(&self) -> Vec<GcAny> {
+        vec![] // todo
+    }
+}
+
+impl Trace for str {
+    fn grays(&self) -> Vec<GcAny> {
+        vec![]
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<&str> for Gc<str> {
+    fn from(value: &str) -> Self {
+        todo!()
+    }
+}
diff --git a/dvm-lib/src/vm/mod.rs b/dvm-lib/src/vm/mod.rs
index 033c18d..54124fc 100644
--- a/dvm-lib/src/vm/mod.rs
+++ b/dvm-lib/src/vm/mod.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ pub mod array;
 pub mod class;
 pub mod constant;
 pub mod function;
+mod mem;
 pub mod object;
 pub mod operand;
 mod operand_helpers;