I would like to offer for discussion one more implementation of reference counting smart pointer. It has taken much of the design from boost::shared_ptr/weak_ptr and is quite similar to it, but supports different types of reference counting (intrusive, semi- intrusive, non-intrusive + weak references, dummy reference counting) within a single smart pointer class. The library is also more performance-oriented and has extra tools implemented.
Please find more info in the Readme at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boost/files/refc/Readme.html I am not sure that there is a place for another one smart pointer library in Boost. That is why I have not made complete "boostification". Nevertheless I would be grateful for any comment that will help it to mature. Files: Readme: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boost/files/refc/Readme.html Q&A: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boost/files/refc/Refc_library_Q&A.html Complete package: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boost/files/refc/refc_ptr.zip (About 63K. Includes examples and preliminary documentation) Also there is a question related to boost::shared_ptr: what the drawbacks would be in implementing it via void*? I mean template<class T> class shared_ptr { void * px; detail::shared_count pn; ... public: T * get() const { return static_cast<T*>(px); } } The advantage is that with void*-based implementation all shared_ptr<>’s are layout-compatible and thus std containers may be specialized for shared_ptr to reduce code bloat (since not all linkers are as smart as MSVC++). Probably this was already discussed and declined. Currently I see the two issues: slight performance degradation on some platforms (which platforms?) and prohibition of the get() method for incomplete types. What else? Pavel _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost
