odohMei7
Is `Process.send_after(pid, msg, time, opts \\ [])` garbage collected when pid shuts down?
I am using Process.send_after(self(),:wakeup, 100_000) to trigger a GenServer handle_info callback and I am wondering what happens when I have many such GenServer processes come and go. Will the scheduled send_after eat up memory before they are triggered and send to a nonexisting process? Or are they garbage-collected when the process with destination process ID shuts down?
I use process id (not named processes) in the send_after command.
My question is basically if I can be lazy and forget scheduled send_after on GenServer shutdown or if I should honor the returned timer reference and do cancel_timer on GenServer shutdown.
Marked As Solved
garazdawi
In general all resources of a process are expected to be cleaned up when the process terminates and timers are no exception. So it is safe to be lazy.
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dimitarvp
I would always capture the return value of Process.send_after and use cancel_timer on it after a certain deadline but that’s mostly a matter of principle. Erlang’s VM is doing just fine in such scenarios and won’t buckle unless you bombard it with a few million of those (and even then it’s questionable if it’s going to buckle).
Also :erts_debug.size(timer) gives us 3 machine words so no need to worry about memory overhead either.
garazdawi
yes it is
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