LGram16
dd97ddec92
Move git root from Client/ to src/ to track all source code: - Client: Game client source (moved to Client/Client/) - Server: Game server source - GameTools: Development tools - CryptoSource: Encryption utilities - database: Database scripts - Script: Game scripts - rylCoder_16.02.2008_src: Legacy coder tools - GMFont, Game: Additional resources 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
74 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
74 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
You can find the latest version of this source at:
|
||
|
||
HTTP://www.FluidStudios.com/publications.html
|
||
|
||
!IMPORTANT! Please spend just a couple minutes reading the comments at the top
|
||
of the mmgr.cpp file... it will save you a lot of headaches!
|
||
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
This code originally appeared on www.flipcode.com as an entry to the
|
||
"Ask Midnight" column titled "Presenting A Memory Manager":
|
||
|
||
http://www.flipcode.com/askmid/archives.shtml
|
||
|
||
Here's the text that appeared with the release of this code:
|
||
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
This installment of the Ask Midnight column is not in response to a question,
|
||
but rather a follow-up to the last question about memory management & tracking.
|
||
I’ve spent the past week developing and testing a new industrial-grade memory
|
||
manager.
|
||
|
||
During this effort, I found three bugs in an application I thought to be bug-
|
||
free (at least, as far as memory usage goes.) I had this confidence because I
|
||
often run with BoundsChecker (as well as the memory tracking tools in the
|
||
Microsoft libraries.) Neither of these tools was able to locate these particular
|
||
bugs, so I assumed the bugs didn’t actually exist. As it turns out, the memory
|
||
manager presented here located them and told me exactly where to go to fix them.
|
||
As a result, I now have a little more confidence in the application I was
|
||
testing with, and even more confidence in my memory tracker. Here’s what this
|
||
memory tracker told me:
|
||
|
||
* I was never deallocating the frame buffer. Sounds simple but the fact is,
|
||
neither BoundsChecker nor Microsoft’s memory tracking library noticed this
|
||
memory leak.
|
||
|
||
* I noticed that there was over a MEG of unused RAM in the memory report. By
|
||
attaching a memory report dump to a key, I was able to see a snapshot of what
|
||
memory was in use (every single allocation) and noticed that a particular
|
||
block of allocated RAM contained a large amount of unused RAM within it. Going
|
||
to the line in the source where the allocation took place, I found that I was
|
||
allocating a z-buffer from legacy code and had forgot to remove the allocation
|
||
when I removed the rest of the z-buffer code.
|
||
|
||
* When the application started up, the window would be bright green prior
|
||
rendering the first frame. This was because the "unused memory" fill pattern
|
||
used by the memory manager translates to bright green. Looking at the source,
|
||
I found that I wasn’t clearing the frame buffer after the allocation.
|
||
|
||
Is your code bug-free? Take the Memory Manager challenge! I urge you to include
|
||
this software in your projects as a test. If your projects have any size to them
|
||
at all, or use memory in a multitude of various ways, then this memory tracker
|
||
may very likely find bugs in your code that you never knew were there. Just
|
||
include this software with your project, include the MMGR.H file in each of your
|
||
source files and recompile. After each run, check for any MEM*.LOG files in the
|
||
project’s directory. If you really want to test your software, simply edit
|
||
MMGR.CPP and uncomment the STRESS_TEST macro. This will slow your allocations
|
||
down a bit, but it’s worth it. And finally, spend a couple minutes and read the
|
||
comments at the top of the MMGR.CPP file.
|
||
|
||
If this code helps you find bugs you never knew existed or helps you track down
|
||
a tough bug, then please visit this issue of Ask Midnight and leave a
|
||
testimonial in the comments. I will periodically check them and may eventually
|
||
release an updated version of this software based on your comments.
|
||
|
||
So go ahead. Take the challenge. I dare you. :)
|
||
|
||
- Paul Nettle
|
||
midnight@FluidStudios.com
|
||
|