On Sun, 2008-12-21 at 00:16 +0100, Jürg Billeter wrote: > On Sat, 2008-12-20 at 23:57 +0100, Hans Vercammen wrote: > > On Sat, 2008-12-20 at 08:24 +0100, Jürg Billeter wrote: > > > On Sat, 2008-12-20 at 02:19 +0100, Hans Vercammen wrote: > > > > On Fri, 2008-12-19 at 12:10 +0100, Jürg Billeter wrote: > > > > > > > > > > * `unowned' type modifier complements `weak' type modifier > > > > > > > > > > `weak' only make sense for reference fields, list elements, and local > > > > > variables to break reference cycles. Vala will use > > > > > `g_object_add_weak_pointer' in these places in future versions. > > > > > > > > I definitely agree we should avoid dangling pointers as much as > > > > possible. However, I fear a bit that many people will turn to using > > > > pointers when this is also applied to local variables. > > > > > > Why do you think people will switch to pointers? Do you have an example > > > in mind where the change might cause issues? > > > > I don't see an immediate use case where this might fail. However, weak > > local variables can be used to tweak unnecessary reference counting > > overhead. Registering the pointers possibly invalidates this tweak. We > > have to wait an see how this actually behaves in for example loops etc. > > Judging from the implementation within GObject, weak references might > > actually be slower as strong ones. > > You should not use weak for performance improvements with the new > syntax, it's only meant to break reference cycles or to not keep an > object alive for other reasons. > > The unowned modifier will still allow you to avoid any kind reference > counting or tracking. There will just be no guarantees at all if you do > that.
Ok, clear. I wasn't sure "weak" and "unowned" would be treated differently. > > together. Also, I'm not sure how to treat the low level vala pointers in > > this case. > > If you use raw pointers, you are on your own, I don't think it makes any > sense to try to make the code safer there. Better try to avoid > situations where raw pointers are necessary. Exactly. Hans _______________________________________________ Vala-list mailing list Vala-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/vala-list
