Re: Basic GObject question

[Stefan Kost <ensonic hora-obscura de>]

hi,

Andreas Stricker wrote:
> > Please don't laugh at me ;P Can someone explain me what reference counting
> > is for?
>
> Wikipedia explain it not too bad:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_counting
>
> For glib specific implementation details I recomment to read this document:
>
> http://le-hacker.org/papers/gobject/

or its current for in
http://developer.gnome.org/doc/API/2.0/gobject/index.html

Stefan

> And a short overview in my own words:
>
> Each GObject contains a counter that is incremented by each owner of the
> object. If one owner don't need the object anymore*, he decrement the
> counter. If the counter reach zero, there isn't an owner anymore so the
> object can be freed.
> So reference counting is something like a half-automated garbage collector.
> Reference counting in C still needs discipline and is error prone, but still
> easier than manual free() operations.
>
> * usually before the reference (pointer) to the object is overwritten,
>    replaced or just not used anymore
>
> Cheers, Andy
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