1<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> 2<html><head> 3 <title>Using APR Pools</title> 4 </head> 5 <body> 6 <div align="right"> 7 Last modified at [$Date: 2004-11-24 17:51:51 -0500 (Wed, 24 Nov 2004) $] 8 </div> 9 10 <h1>Using APR Pools</h1> 11 12 <p> 13 From <a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/">Subversion</a>, we 14 have learned a <em>lot</em> about how to use pools in a heavily 15 structured/object-based environment. 16 <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">Apache httpd</a> is a 17 completely different beast: "allocate a request pool. use 18 it. destroy it." 19 </p> 20 21 <p> 22 In a complex app, that request-style of behavior is not 23 present. Luckily, the "proper" use of pools can be described in 24 just a few rules: 25 </p> 26 27 <ul> 28 <li> 29 Objects should not have their own pools. An object is 30 allocated into a pool defined by the constructor's caller. The 31 <strong>caller</strong> knows the lifetime of the object and 32 will manage it via the pool. Generally, this also means that 33 objects will not have a "close" or a "free" since those 34 operations will happen implicitly as part of the destruction 35 of the pool the objects live within. 36 </li> 37 38 <li> 39 <p> 40 Functions should not create/destroy pools for their 41 operation; they should use a pool provided by the 42 caller. Again, the <strong>caller</strong> knows more about 43 how the function will be used, how often, how many times, 44 etc. Thus, it should be in charge of the function's memory 45 usage. 46 </p> 47 <p> 48 As an example, the caller might know that the app will exit 49 upon the function's return. Thus, the function would be 50 creating extra work if it built and destroyed a 51 pool. Instead, it should use the passed-in pool, which the 52 caller is going to be tossing as part of app-exit anyways. 53 </p> 54 </li> 55 56 <li> 57 <p> 58 Whenever an unbounded iteration occurs, a subpool should be 59 used. The general pattern is: 60 </p> 61 <blockquote> 62 <pre> 63subpool = apr_create_subpool(pool); 64for (i = 0; i < n; ++i) { 65 apr_pool_clear(subpool); 66 67 do_operation(..., subpool); 68} 69apr_pool_destroy(subpool);</pre> 70 </blockquote> 71 <p> 72 This pattern prevents the 'pool' from growing unbounded and 73 consuming all of memory. Note that it is slightly more 74 optimal to clear the pool on loop-entry. This pattern also 75 allows for a '<tt>continue</tt>' to occur within the loop, 76 yet still ensure the pool will be cleared. 77 </p> 78 </li> 79 80 <li> 81 Given all of the above, it is pretty well mandatory to pass a 82 pool to <em>every</em> function. Since objects are not 83 recording pools for themselves, and the caller is always 84 supposed to be managing memory, then each function needs a 85 pool, rather than relying on some hidden magic pool. In 86 limited cases, objects may record the pool used for their 87 construction so that they can construct sub-parts, but these 88 cases should be examined carefully. Internal pools can lead to 89 unbounded pool usage if the object is not careful. 90 </li> 91 </ul> 92 93 <hr> 94 <address>Greg Stein</address> 95 <!-- Created: Wed Jun 25 14:39:57 PDT 2003 --> 96 <!-- hhmts start --> 97Last modified: Wed Jun 25 14:50:19 PDT 2003 98<!-- hhmts end --> 99 100</body></html> 101