class WeakRef(T)

• WeakRef(T)
• Reference
• Object

Overview

Weak Reference class that allows a referenced object to be garbage-collected.

WARNING The referenced object cannot be a module.

NOTE To use WeakRef, you must explicitly import it with require "weak_ref"

require "weak_ref"

ref = WeakRef.new("oof".reverse)
p ref # => #<WeakRef(String):0x7f83406eafa0 @target=Pointer(Void)@0x7f83406eafc0>
GC.collect
p ref       # => #<WeakRef(String):0x7f83406eafa0 @target=Pointer(Void).null>
p ref.value # => nil

Note that the collection of objects is not deterministic, and depends on many subtle aspects. For instance, if the example above is modified to print ref.value in the first print, then the collector will not collect it.

Defined in:

Constructors

• .new(target : T)

Instance Method Summary

• #value

  Returns the referenced object or Nil if it has been garbage-collected.

Constructor Detail

Instance Method Detail