24. The RTVMM of claim 12 wherein the implementing step comprises the steps: partitioning memory into at least three demi-spaces, at least one of the demi-spaces being a static space excluded from the garbage collection process; designating two of the demi-spaces as to-space and from-space at the beginning of a garbage collection cycle, live objects residing in from-space subsequently being copied into to-space; designating the remaining demi-spaces as mark-and-sweep spaces at the beginning of a garbage collection cycle, the mark-and-sweep spaces being garbage collected using a mark-and-sweep technique.
40. The RTVMM of claim 24 wherein the marking and copying processes for a particular garbage collection cycle have been completed, the implementing step comprising the steps: causing all objects needing finalization to be transferred from a list of finalizable objects to a finalizee list; causing the transferred objects residing in mark-and-sweep space to be placed on a scan list; causing the transferred objects residing in from-space to be placed on a copy list.