Re: [Caml-list] understanding weak

[Martin Jambon <martin.jambon@ens-lyon.org>]

Aleksey Nogin wrote:
> On 31.10.2008 07:57, Martin Jambon wrote:
> 
>> let x = (1, 2);;
>> let wa = Weak.create 10;;
>> Weak.set wa 0 (Some x);;
>> ...
>> print_int (fst x);;
>>
>> (fst x) would certainly cause funny effects if x were GC'ed at an
>> arbitrary time after it has been added to the weak array.
>>
>> An object can be reclaimed by the GC only if there is no reference to
>> it. This remains true. Adding an object to a weak array just doesn't
>> count as a reference.
>>
> Martin,
> 
> You are answering the wrong question - you are answering "could x be
> GCed too early?" - the answer is obviously "no". However, the initial
> question was "could (Some x) be removed from wa too early by GC - before
> x is orphaned?" The answer is "we'd hope not", but the documentation is
> somewhat ambiguous.

So I checked the implementation and it turns out that x is unboxed from
(Some x) before being added to the weak array.

x is really the value that matters and of course not keeping any
reference to (Some x) has no importance.

The weak pointer is x (or a null value), stored as a cell of the weak array.


Martin
-- 
http://mjambon.com/