View source for LibVLC Memory Management

== Reference Counting ==

LibVLC uses a certain number of objects.  Each one maintains a references count, which is used to know when the object must be released.  The three related functions are:

* libvlc_object_name_'''new'''()  ''Create an object with a refcount equal to 1.''

* libvlc_object_name_'''retain'''()  ''Increment the object refcount by 1.''

* libvlc_object_name_'''release'''()  ''Decrement the refcount by 1, and release the object if the new refcount is less than zero.''

=== Objects that don't follow this rule ===

* libvlc_exception_t: Those are not pointers
* libvlc_event_manager_t: Those are supposed to be accessed only during the life of their parent libvlc_* object.

=== Example ===

 libvlc_exception_t e;
 libvlc_exception_init( &e );
 
 libvlc_media_list_t * p_ml = libvlc_media_list_new( libvlc_inst, &e)
 
 /* Free the memory used by media_list release */
 libvlc_media_list_release( p_ml );

== Getters and Setters ==

Usually object properties are set through getters and setters.

* Usually getters are in the form:
libvlc_''object_name''_''object''

* Setters are:
libvlc_''object_name''_''set_object''

* Variations:
** Setter: libvlc_media_list_add_media_descriptor
** Getter: libvlc_media_list_item_at_index

For setters and getters the memory management rules are:
* Getters internally '''retain''' the object before returning it, so is means you must '''release''' the object after use.
* Setters internally '''retain''' the object, so basically you never need to keep the object around.
(This also applies to strings where retain is '''strdup''' and release is '''free''')

Notable exceptions to those rules are:
* libvlc_''object_name''_'''event_manager''': This getter never retains the object prior returning it.  That means you '''mustn't release''' it.