Macros for defining objects with "recycled memory"

DEFINE_ALLOCATION_LIST

Macro for recycled memory; used in a class's constructor

DEFINE_ALLOCATION_OPERATORS

Macro for recycled memory; used in a source file

Many types of small data structures are characterized by high allocation and deallocation rates. For these objects, using the normal memory allocation mechanisms can result in a significant performance hit while simultaneously increasing memory fragmentation. To overcome these problems, two macros are provided which will save deallocated objects in a linked list so that they can be re-used without having to actually reallocate memory via malloc() and friends. malloc() is only called when the list of previously freed objects is empty. When defining a new class that uses recycled memory, there are 3 simple steps:

• use the DEFINE_ALLOCATION_LIST macro below in the class declaration
• make sure the class has a 'next' member
• use the DEFINE_ALLOCATION_OPERATORS macro in a source file for the class

To really deallocate the memory currently used in the list of freed objects, call [classname]::deleteFreeList().

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