[kragen]

No, that paper doesn't describe the garbage collector. I do think it is true that before it was published Slug Russell had implemented the GC, but I think it's correct that we don't have listings from that early.

Edit: yes, yes it does describe the garbage collector.

[Rochus]

Isn't the "Free-Storage List" in section 4c, starting on page 26, a mark & sweep collector? They didn't use the term then, but I think it describes one. I'm not aware of any earlier publication.

[kragen]

The paper only has 12 pages, but there is a section 4c with that title starting on page 192 of https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/367177.367199, and you are correct that it describes a mark-and-sweep collector. I was mistaken, and I appreciate the correction.

[Rochus]

Ok, I see. Just downloaded the first hit from Google, which has 34 pages and is nicely printed: https://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/recursive.pdf.

[andsoitis]

The concept of automatic memory management dates back to the 1950s.

However, John McCarthy, the creator of Lisp, introduced the first widely recognized garbage collection mechanism around 1959/1960.

[kragen]

If so, he didn't write about it in that paper, and I don't think he introduced it at all; I think Slug Russell did.

Correction: as Rochus pointed out, he certainly did write about it in that paper, giving a complete description.