/* LAZY-INIT.hpp - a self-initialising functor Copyright (C) Lumiera.org 2023, Hermann Vosseler This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. */ /** @file lazy-init.hpp ** Building block to allow delayed initialisation of infrastructure tied to a functor. ** This solution is packaged as a mix-in template and engages a hidden mechanism with ** considerable trickery. It attempts to solve a problem arising notoriously when building ** elaborate processing by composing functions and user-provided configuration lambdas; ** the very point of this construction style is to tap into internal context to involve ** deep details of the implementation without the need to represent these as structures ** on API level. Unfortunately this has the consequence that capture-by-reference is ** all over the place, breeding instability. The only solution to defeat this instability ** is to lock an enclosing implementation scope into a fixed memory location, which boils ** down to using non-copyable classes. This solution may be in conflict to the intended ** use, especially when building DSLs, configuration frameworks or symbolic processing, ** where entities are _value like_ from a semantic point of view. The solution pursued ** here is to define some linkage for operational state, which allows to lock a scope ** to a fixed memory location. Assuming that a typical usage scenario will first ** require setup, then proceed to processing, this solution attempts to tie ** the usage restrictions to the lifecycle — hopefully hiding the concern ** from users sight altogether. ** ** # Initialisation mechanism ** This mix-in assumes that there is a function somewhere, which activates the actual ** processing, and this processing requires initialisation to be performed reliably ** before first use. Thus, a _»trojan functor«_ is placed into this work-function, ** with the goal to activate a „trap“ on first use. This allows to invoke the actual ** initialisation, which is also configured as a functor, and which is the only part ** the client must provide actively, to activate the mechanism. ** ** There is one _gory detail_ however: the initialisation hook needs the actual instance ** pointer valid *at the time of actual initialisation*. And since initialisation shall ** be performed automatically, the trap mechanism needs a way to derive this location, ** relying on minimal knowledge only. This challenge can only be overcome by assuming ** that the »trojan functor« itself is stored somehow embedded into the target object ** to be initialised. If there is a fixed distance relation in memory, then the target ** can be derived from the self-position of the functor; if this assumption is broken ** however, memory corruption and SEGFAULT may be caused. ** ** @todo 11/2023 at the moment I am just desperately trying to get a bye-product of my ** main effort into usable shape and salvage an design idea that sounded clever ** on first thought. I am fully aware that »lazy initialisation« is something ** much more generic, but I am also aware of the potential of the solution ** coded here. Thus I'll claim that generic component name, assuming that ** time will tell if we need a more generic framework to serve this ** purpose eventually.... ** @see LazyInit_test ** @see lib::RandomDraw usage example ** @see vault::gear::TestChainLoad::Rule where this setup matters */ #ifndef LIB_LAZY_INIT_H #define LIB_LAZY_INIT_H //#include "lib/error.h" //#include "lib/nocopy.hpp" #include "lib/meta/function.hpp" //#include "lib/meta/function-closure.hpp" //#include "lib/util-quant.hpp" //#include "lib/util.hpp" //#include //#include namespace lib { // namespace err = lumiera::error; // using lib::meta::_Fun; // using std::function; // using std::forward; // using std::move; /** * */ class LazyInit { }; } // namespace lib #endif /*LIB_LAZY_INIT_H*/