Re: [boost] Smart pointer status, directions, thoughts

From: John Max Skaller (skaller_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-05-29 21:10:23

Greg Colvin wrote:

> To be more specific, it is a garbage collecting
> smart pointer whose value I am questioning.  I'm
> too close to the work to judge it's value. 

        Of couse. That's why it needs to be put
into production. Let me say I'm quite tempted
to ditch Felix GC in favour of it (because it
doesn't need shape objects).

> If something like cyclic_ptr can make someone's job
> easier then I am glad, but in my own work I have
> mostly done well enough with a careful discipline
> of ownership and occasional reference counting.

        Felix is a programming language for C++
programmers which is designed to provide high
level features and simplicity missing in C++,
while still leveraging and interfacing with
existing C++ codes, particularly class types.

        One of the features it provides is
that functions and procedures are first class,
like in Scheme and other functional languages.
There is no way that this can be done with
just reference counting: the cycles that are
generated are intrinsic.

        The task here isn't manually crafting
a memory management solution for a particular
problem, but crafting one for a whole class
of problems expressed as Felix programs.
If you know a solution _other_ than a garbage
collector of some kind, I'd sure like to know. 

-- 
John (Max) Skaller, mailto:skaller_at_[hidden]
10/1 Toxteth Rd Glebe NSW 2037 Australia voice: 61-2-9660-0850
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