love2d.love/src/common/Object.h

/**
* Copyright (c) 2006-2011 LOVE Development Team
*
* This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
* warranty.  In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
* arising from the use of this software.
*
* Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
* including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
* freely, subject to the following restrictions:
*
* 1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
*    claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
*    in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
*    appreciated but is not required.
* 2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be
*    misrepresented as being the original software.
* 3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
**/

#ifndef LOVE_OBJECT_H
#define LOVE_OBJECT_H

namespace love
{
	/**
	* Superclass for all object that should be able to  cross the Lua/C border
	* (this pertains to most objects).
	*
	* This class is an alternative to using smart pointers; it contains retain/release
	* methods, and will delete itself with the reference count hits zero. The wrapper
	* code assumes that all userdata inherits from this class.
	**/
	class Object
	{
	private:

		// The reference count.
		int count;

	public:

		/**
		* Constructor. Sets reference count to one.
		**/
		Object();

		/**
		* Destructor.
		**/
		virtual ~Object() = 0;

		/**
		* Gets the reference count of this Object.
		* @returns The reference count.
		**/
		int getReferenceCount() const;

		/**
		* Retains the Object, i.e. increases the
		* reference count by one.
		**/
		void retain();

		/**
		* Releases one reference to the Object, i.e. decrements the
		* reference count by one, and potentially deletes the Object
		* if there are no more references.
		**/
		void release();

	}; // Object

} // love

#endif // LOVE_OBJECT_H