Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!microsoft!jimad
From: jimad@microsoft.UUCP (Jim ADCOCK)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: A Parameterized Class for Semi-automatic Memory Management
Message-ID: <57692@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 24 Sep 90 20:11:42 GMT
References: <11329@spool.cs.wisc.edu>
Reply-To: jimad@microsoft.UUCP (Jim ADCOCK)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 13

This proposal fixes the smaller problem of keeping track of ownership of 
objects, while ignoring the larger problem:

On each parameter passed to a method, or returned from a method, the class
producer and class consumer must agree on whether ownership should be passed
for that parameter or not.  If producer and consumer don't agree on whether
a parameter should pass ownership or not, then the class is not usable.
Most classes have a very large number or parameters that could pass ownership
or not, thus it seems unlikely that class producers and consumers would agree
on all those parameters.  Thus classes would not be generally reuasable.

Thus one is lead to consider schemes by which class produces and class users
are able to "share" "ownership" of objects.