Re: [boost] [shifted_ptr] Status

Subject: Re: [boost] [shifted_ptr] Status
From: Mathias Gaunard (mathias.gaunard_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-08-20 09:28:56

Phil Bouchard wrote:

> More than a year ago I have submitted a quite stable version of the 
> shifted_ptr memory manager.  I am not aware of the level of understanding of 
> it but I am planning writing more documentation, helping introducing it 
> quicker.  For now there is a quick presentation which can be found at:
> http://svn.boost.org/svn/boost/sandbox/shifted_ptr/libs/smart_ptr/doc/ShiftedPointer.ppt

So basically you're saying you invented a new garbage collecting scheme 
that handles cyclic references and that doesn't have some of the 
problems of mark and sweep.

A high-level explanation of how the scheme works, its semantics, and 
performance considerations would be useful.

I see you're calling destructors, which you probably shouldn't. Indeed, 
the fact you support cyclic references means that there is no order in 
which to call the destructors to satisfy that every other object an 
object references is alive in its destructor.
This is the reason why not supporting cyclic references is actually a 
good thing, since otherwise the scheme is only applicable to PODs.