On 10/9/2013 10:05 AM, Manu wrote:
Supporting ARC in the compiler _is_ the job. That includes a cyclic-reference
solution.
Wholly replacing the GC with ARC has some fundamental issues:
1. Array slicing becomes clumsy instead of fast & cheap.
2. Functions can now accept new'd data, data from user allocations, static data,
slices, etc., with aplomb. Wiring in ARC would likely make this unworkable.
3. I'm not convinced yet that ARC can guarantee memory safety. For example,
where do weak pointers fit in with memory safety? (ARC uses user-annoted weak
pointers to deal with cycles.)
