How to avoid successive deallocations/allocations in C++?

Question

Consider the following code:

class A
{
    B* b; // an A object owns a B object

    A() : b(NULL) { } // we don't know what b will be when constructing A

    void calledVeryOften(…)
    {
        if (b)
            delete b;

        b = new B(param1, param2, param3, param4);
    }
};

My goal: I need to maximize performance, which, in this case, means minimizing the amount of memory allocations.

The obvious thing to do here is to change B* b; to B b;. I see two problems with this approach:

• I need to initialize b in the constructor. Since I don't know what b will be, this means I need to pass dummy values to B's constructor. Which, IMO, is ugly.
• In calledVeryOften(), I'll have to do something like this: b = B(…), which is wrong for two reasons:
  • The destructor of b won't be called.
  • A temporary instance of B will be constructed, then copied into b, then the destructor of the temporary instance will be called. The copy and the destructor call could be avoided. Worse, calling the destructor could very well result in undesired behavior.

So what solutions do I have to avoid using new? Please keep in mind that:

• I only have control over A. I don't have control over B, and I don't have control over the users of A.
• I want to keep the code as clean and readable as possible.

Answer 1

I liked Klaim's answer, so I wrote this up real fast. I don't claim perfect correctness but it looks pretty good to me. (i.e., the only testing it has is the sample main below)

It's a generic lazy-initializer. The space for the object is allocated once, and the object starts at null. You can then create, over-writing previous objects, with no new memory allocations.

It implements all the necessary constructors, destructor, copy/assignment, swap, yadda-yadda. Here you go:

#include <cassert>
#include <new>

template <typename T>
class lazy_object
{
public:
    // types
    typedef T value_type;
    typedef const T const_value_type;
    typedef value_type& reference;
    typedef const_value_type& const_reference;
    typedef value_type* pointer;
    typedef const_value_type* const_pointer;

    // creation
    lazy_object(void) :
    mObject(0),
    mBuffer(::operator new(sizeof(T)))
    {
    }

    lazy_object(const lazy_object& pRhs) :
    mObject(0),
    mBuffer(::operator new(sizeof(T)))
    {
        if (pRhs.exists())
        {
            mObject = new (buffer()) T(pRhs.get());
        }
    }

    lazy_object& operator=(lazy_object pRhs)
    {
        pRhs.swap(*this);

        return *this;
    }

    ~lazy_object(void)
    {
        destroy();
        ::operator delete(mBuffer);
    }

    // need to make multiple versions of this.
    // variadic templates/Boost.PreProccesor
    // would help immensely. For now, I give
    // two, but it's easy to make more.
    void create(void)
    {
        destroy();
        mObject = new (buffer()) T();
    }

    template <typename A1>
    void create(const A1 pA1)
    {
        destroy();
        mObject = new (buffer()) T(pA1);
    }

    void destroy(void)
    {
        if (exists())
        {
            mObject->~T();
            mObject = 0;
        }
    }

    void swap(lazy_object& pRhs)
    {
        std::swap(mObject, pRhs.mObject);
        std::swap(mBuffer, pRhs.mBuffer);
    }

    // access
    reference get(void)
    {
        return *get_ptr();
    }

    const_reference get(void) const
    {
        return *get_ptr();
    }

    pointer get_ptr(void)
    {
        assert(exists());
        return mObject;
    }

    const_pointer get_ptr(void) const
    {
        assert(exists());
        return mObject;
    }

    void* buffer(void)
    {
        return mBuffer;
    }

    // query
    const bool exists(void) const
    {
        return mObject != 0;
    }

private:
    // members
    pointer mObject;
    void* mBuffer;
};

// explicit swaps for generality
template <typename T>
void swap(lazy_object<T>& pLhs, lazy_object<T>& pRhs)
{
    pLhs.swap(pRhs);
}

// if the above code is in a namespace, don't put this in it!
// specializations in global namespace std are allowed.
namespace std
{
    template <typename T>
    void swap(lazy_object<T>& pLhs, lazy_object<T>& pRhs)
    {
        pLhs.swap(pRhs);
    }
}

// test use
#include <iostream>

int main(void)
{
    // basic usage
    lazy_object<int> i;
    i.create();
    i.get() = 5;

    std::cout << i.get() << std::endl;

    // asserts (not created yet)
    lazy_object<double> d;
    std::cout << d.get() << std::endl;
}

In your case, just create a member in your class: lazy_object<B> and you're done. No manual releases or making copy-constructors, destructors, etc. Everything is taken care of in your nice, small re-usable class. :)

EDIT

Removed the need for vector, should save a bit of space and what-not.

EDIT²

This uses aligned_storage and alignment_of to use the stack instead of heap. I used boost, but this functionality exists in both TR1 and C++0x. We lose the ability to copy, and therefore swap.

#include <boost/type_traits/aligned_storage.hpp>
#include <cassert>
#include <new>

template <typename T>
class lazy_object_stack
{
public:
    // types
    typedef T value_type;
    typedef const T const_value_type;
    typedef value_type& reference;
    typedef const_value_type& const_reference;
    typedef value_type* pointer;
    typedef const_value_type* const_pointer;

    // creation
    lazy_object_stack(void) :
    mObject(0)
    {
    }

    ~lazy_object_stack(void)
    {
        destroy();
    }

    // need to make multiple versions of this.
    // variadic templates/Boost.PreProccesor
    // would help immensely. For now, I give
    // two, but it's easy to make more.
    void create(void)
    {
        destroy();
        mObject = new (buffer()) T();
    }

    template <typename A1>
    void create(const A1 pA1)
    {
        destroy();
        mObject = new (buffer()) T(pA1);
    }

    void destroy(void)
    {
        if (exists())
        {
            mObject->~T();
            mObject = 0;
        }
    }

    // access
    reference get(void)
    {
        return *get_ptr();
    }

    const_reference get(void) const
    {
        return *get_ptr();
    }

    pointer get_ptr(void)
    {
        assert(exists());
        return mObject;
    }

    const_pointer get_ptr(void) const
    {
        assert(exists());
        return mObject;
    }

    void* buffer(void)
    {
        return mBuffer.address();
    }

    // query
    const bool exists(void) const
    {
        return mObject != 0;
    }

private:
    // types
    typedef boost::aligned_storage<sizeof(T),
                boost::alignment_of<T>::value> storage_type;

    // members
    pointer mObject;
    storage_type mBuffer;

    // non-copyable
    lazy_object_stack(const lazy_object_stack& pRhs);
    lazy_object_stack& operator=(lazy_object_stack pRhs);
};

// test use
#include <iostream>

int main(void)
{
    // basic usage
    lazy_object_stack<int> i;
    i.create();
    i.get() = 5;

    std::cout << i.get() << std::endl;

    // asserts (not created yet)
    lazy_object_stack<double> d;
    std::cout << d.get() << std::endl;
}

And there we go.

Answer 2

Simply reserve the memory required for b (via a pool or by hand) and reuse it each time you delete/new instead of reallocating each time.

Example :

class A
{
    B* b; // an A object owns a B object
    bool initialized;
public:
    A() : b( malloc( sizeof(B) ) ), initialized(false) { } // We reserve memory for b
    ~A() { if(initialized) destroy(); free(b); } // release memory only once we don't use it anymore

    void calledVeryOften(…)
    {
        if (initialized)
            destroy();

        create();
    }

 private:

    void destroy() { b->~B(); initialized = false; } // hand call to the destructor
    void create( param1, param2, param3, param4 )
    {
        b = new (b) B( param1, param2, param3, param4 ); // in place new : only construct, don't allocate but use the memory that the provided pointer point to
        initialized = true;
    }

};

In some cases a Pool or ObjectPool could be a better implementation of the same idea.

The construction/destruction cost will then only be dependante on the constructor and destructor of the B class.