Designing efficient and safe weak references in Eiffel with parametric types
Résumé
In this paper, we present our work on the design and implementation of weak references within the SmartEiffel project. We introduce the known concept of weak references, reminding how this peculiar kind of references can be used to optimize and fine-tune the memory behavior of programs, thus potentially speeding up their execution. We show that genericity (parametric types in Eiffel) is the key to implementing weak references in a statically-checked hence safer and more efficient way. We compare our solution for weak references to similar notions in other languages and stress the advantages it offers.
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