Abstract: In a virtual machine environment, a method and apparatus for the use of multiple heaps to retain persistent data and transient data wherein the multiple heaps enables a single virtual machine to be easily resettable, thus avoiding the need to terminate and start a new Virtual Machine as well as enabling a single virtual machine to retain data and objects across multiple applications, thus avoiding the computing resource overhead of relinking, reloading, reverifying, and recompiling classes. The memory hierarchy includes a System Heap, a Middleware Heap and a Transient Heap. The use of three heaps enables garbage collection to be selectively targeted to one heap at a time in between applications, thus avoiding this overhead during the life of an application.

Abstract: A method of performing computer-based on-line commerce in which a client computer issues a group of interrelated commercial requests and each one of a plurality of server computers is available to service at least one of said requests, said method, performed by an intelligent agent, comprising steps of: receiving the group of interrelated commercial requests from said client computer; and finding servers which will satisfy said group of requests using client preference levels indicating for each request at least one preferred value which the client would like the agent to use in finding a server to satisfy that request; characterized in that said finding step also uses a client significance level indicating for a corresponding request the relative significance of this request in comparison to the other requests in the group.