Why does JPH::Ref Exist

[cuppajoeman]

I understand how references work in c++, in that when passing by reference we won't copy the object but instead it behaves like a pointer, can you explain why you implemented custom JPH::Ref class in the context of jolt?

[jrouwe]

JPH::Ref has nothing to do with C++ references, it is a pointer that does 'reference counting'. This is a common technique for managing resources. The documentation also explains it.

[cuppajoeman]

Ok, thanks. I read that and it looks like smart pointers also have this functionality, I guess you made your own version because you wanted to extend the functionality?

[jrouwe]

A smart pointer is a programming pattern. The standard library implements several types of smart pointers. std::shared_ptr is close to what Ref does. I try to avoid using the standard library as much as possible as the implementation varies from platform to platform and the implementations often have performance pitfalls that are quite unintuitive.