Smart Reference Pattern
A smart reference is a replacement for a simple pointer that performs additional actions when an object is accessed. Typical uses include:
- Counting the number of references to the real object,
- Loading a persistent object into memory when it's first referenced
- Checking that the real object is locked before it's accessed to ensure that no other object can change it
- etc
It is basically a combination of counting proxy, virtual proxy, protection proxy, etc.
See: Proxy
page revision: 1, last edited: 26 Mar 2010 01:12