Squirrel

Hi evryone,
First, great job :). I've been playing for several days with squirrel, and I find it fantastic ...

Now, about the problem. The following code

class Base {
    t = [0];

    constructor()
    {
        ::print(t[0] + " Base constructor\n");
        t[0] ++;
    }
}

::Base();
::Base();
::Base();

yields:
0 Base constructor
1 Base constructor
2 Base constructor


So the table t, is actulay one table shared by all instances of the class. It is not actualy a static member, because if you initialize it in the constructor ( t = [] ) everything works as expexted. Is this the inteded behaviour? I find it a little confusing, and I wasn't able to locate any reference in the documentation.


A quick search through the code showed, that the prooblem ( if it is really a problem ) is in the instance constructoe - sqclass.cpp line 145:
     for(SQUnsignedInteger n = 0; n < nvalues; n++) {
        new (&_values) SQObjectPtr(_class->_defaultvalues.val);
    }


When instancing the new object should get complete copy of the defaultvalues and just a reference.


btw. Squirrel version 2.2. I haven't checked with the older versions.

hmmmm, looks like I haven't been reading cearfully enough .... The issue has already been mentioned by ats in the Roadmap to 3.x thread ...

I just took a look at the 3.0 pre alpha version, and this doesn't seem to be addressed yet. Anyone have a quick fix? This appears to affect all complex types: arrays, tables, instances, etc.

Hi, this topic comes out every few months :)

I want to make clear, this is not a bug and is the expected behaviour. You must see the value that you assign to fields in a class declaration as a "default value" for the field, is copied verbatim even if is a container type/class instance etc.. . Cloning it at contruction time is not a generic solution. So the contructor is there for you to implement your cloning or creation or whatever you wish.

FYI : To have a C# style behaviour the class should have some form of hidden pre-contructor function that execute the assignments as a series of statements. This would require a compiler with an AST and a much more complicated construction procedure. I don't plan to do anything similar any time soon(for sure not for squirrel 3.x).

I hope this clarify the situation

ciao

Alberto