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<h1 align="center">Boost Pool Library</h1>
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<h3>What is Pool?</h3>
<p>Pool allocation is a memory allocation scheme that is very fast, but
limited in its usage. For more information on pool allocation (also called
&quot;simple segregated storage&quot;), see <a href="concepts.html">the concepts
document</a>.</p>
<h3>Why should I use Pool?</h3>
<p>Using Pools gives you more control over how memory is used in your
program. For example, you could have a situation where you want to allocate
a bunch of small objects at one point, and then reach a point in your
program where none of them are needed any more. Using pool interfaces, you
can choose to run their destructors or just drop them off into oblivion; the
pool interface will guarantee that there are no system memory leaks.</p>
<h3>When should I use Pool?</h3>
<p>Pools are generally used when there is a lot of allocation and
deallocation of small objects. Another common usage is the situation above,
where many objects may be dropped out of memory.</p>
<p>In general, use Pools when you need a more efficient way to do unusual
memory control.</p>
<h3>How do I use Pool?</h3>
<p>See the <a href="interfaces.html">pool interfaces document</a>, which
covers the different Pool interfaces supplied by this library.</p>
<h2>Library Structure and Dependencies</h2>
<p>Forward declarations of all the exposed symbols for this library are in
the header <span class="code">&lt;boost/pool/poolfwd.hpp&gt;</span>.</p>
<p>The library may use macros, which will be prefixed with <span class=
"code">BOOST_POOL_</span>. The exception to this rule are the include file
guards, which (for file <em>xxx</em>.hpp) is <span class=
"code">BOOST_<em>xxx</em>_HPP</span>.</p>
<p>All exposed symbols defined by the library will be in namespace
<span class="code">boost</span>. All symbols used only by the implementation
will be in namespace <span class=
"code">boost::details::pool</span>.</p>
<p>Every header used only by the implementation is in the subdirectory
<span class="code">detail/</span>.</p>
<p>Any header in the library may include any other header in the library or
any system-supplied header at its discretion.</p>
<h2>Installation</h2>
<p>The Boost Pool library is a header file library. That means there is no
.lib, .dll, or .so to build; just add the Boost directory to your compiler's
include file path, and you should be good to go!</p>
<h2>Building the Test Programs</h2>
<p>The subdirectory &quot;build&quot; contains subdirectories for several different
platforms. These subdirectories contain all necessary work-around code for
that platform, as well as makefiles or IDE project files as appropriate.</p>
<p>Read the &quot;readme.txt&quot; in the proper subdirectory, if it exists.</p>
<p>The standard makefile targets are &quot;all&quot;, &quot;clean&quot; (which deletes any
intermediate files), and &quot;veryclean&quot; (which deletes any intermediate files
and executables). All intermediate and executable files are built in the
same directory as the makefile/project file. If there is a project file
supplied instead of a makefile, &quot;clean&quot; and &quot;veryclean&quot; shell scripts/batch
files will be provided.</p>
<p>Project files and makefiles for additional platforms may be sent to
Stephen Cleary at scleary AT jerviswebb DOT com.</p>
<h2>Documentation Map</h2>
<ul>
<li>Overview of Pooling
<ul>
<li><a href="concepts.html">concepts.html</a> - The basic ideas behind
pooling.</li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/alignment.html">implementation/alignment.html</a> -
How we guarantee alignment portably.</li>
<li><a href="interfaces.html">interfaces.html</a> - What interfaces
are provided and when to use each one.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Pool Exposed Interfaces
<ul>
<li><a href=
"interfaces/simple_segregated_storage.html">
interfaces/simple_segregated_storage.html</a>
- Not for the faint of heart; embedded programmers only.</li>
<li><a href="interfaces/pool.html">interfaces/pool.html</a> - The
basic pool interface.</li>
<li><a href=
"interfaces/singleton_pool.html">interfaces/singleton_pool.html</a> -
The basic pool interface as a thread-safe singleton.</li>
<li><a href=
"interfaces/object_pool.html">interfaces/object_pool.html</a> - A
type-oriented (instead of size-oriented) pool interface.</li>
<li><a href=
"interfaces/pool_alloc.html">interfaces/pool_alloc.html</a> - A
Standard Allocator pool interface based on singleton_pool.</li>
<li><a href=
"interfaces/user_allocator.html">interfaces/user_allocator.html</a> -
OK, not a pool interface, but it describes how the user can control
how Pools allocate system memory.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Pool Implementation Details and Extensions
<ul>
<li>Interface Implementations and Extensions
<ul>
<li><a href=
"implementation/simple_segregated_storage.html">
implementation/simple_segregated_storage.html</a></li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/pool.html">implementation/pool.html</a></li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/singleton_pool.html">
implementation/singleton_pool.html</a></li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/object_pool.html">implementation/object_pool.html</a></li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/pool_alloc.html">implementation/pool_alloc.html</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Components Used Only by the Implementation
<ul>
<li><a href=
"implementation/ct_gcd_lcm.html">implementation/ct_gcd_lcm.html</a>
- Compile-time GCD and LCM.</li>
<li><a href="implementation/for.html">implementation/for.html</a>
- Description of an m4 component.</li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/gcd_lcm.html">implementation/gcd_lcm.html</a> -
Run-time GCD and LCM.</li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/guard.html">implementation/guard.html</a> - Auto
lock/unlock for mutex.</li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/mutex.html">implementation/mutex.html</a> -
Platform-dependent mutex type.</li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/pool_construct.html">
implementation/pool_construct.html</a>
- The system for supporting more constructor arguments in
object_pool.</li>
<li><a href=
"implementation/singleton.html">implementation/singleton.html</a>
- Singleton that avoids static initialization problem.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Future Directions</h2>
<p>Another pool interface will be written: a base class for per-class pool
allocation.</p>
<h2>Acknowledgements</h2>
<p>Many, many thanks to the Boost peers, notably Jeff Garland, Beman Dawes,
Ed Brey, Gary Powell, Peter Dimov, and Jens Maurer for providing helpful
suggestions!</p>
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<p>Revised
<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->05 December, 2006<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="38516" --></p>
<p><i>Copyright &copy; 2000, 2001 Stephen Cleary (scleary AT jerviswebb DOT com)</i></p>
<p><i>Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See
accompanying file <a href="../../../LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> or
copy at <a href=
"http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)</i></p>
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