Abstract: Techniques for transparently registering non-memory resources used by a program with a garbage collector so that the non-memory resources can be freed when the program is finished using them. The techniques automatically determine from the program that the execution will use a resource and then automatically modify the program's behavior so that the resource is registered. When the program is finished with the resource, it can be determined from the registry whether the resource must be freed. In one embodiment, the technique is employed in a garbage collector for doing resource garbage collection with legacy C and C++ programs. The garbage collector locates invocations that allocate such resources in the code and modifies the code so that when it is executed, the resources are registered. The techniques can also be used to ensure that finalizers associated with objects are executed before the object is freed.

Abstract: Techniques for providing interactive user interfaces for programming constructs. A programming construct is associated with one or more metaphors (837) that specify interactive user interfaces (807) for the programming construct. Thus, a programming construct may have a metaphor for a text-based user interface or for one or more different graphical user interfaces. The metaphor may be associated with a description of the construct such as that found in an abstract syntax tree (823), and the metaphor may obtain the information it needs to construct the interface from the description, so that the user interfaces automatically track changes in the programming construct. Also included is apparatus for modifying the metaphor. In one implementation, a build form function (1407) is used to read the information needed to construct the construct's user interface from the construct's description and the metaphor is modified by modifying the build form function.