A question about variables

Ninjadoodle

Hi guys

I am making a game where all the levels are quite short and different.

I am setting up my levels objects this way ...

self.monster1 = ... self.monster2 = ...

etc.

... to insure that they get removed when the scene is changed.

The question I have is about variables.

I've been setting up my variables by using ...

local myVar = something

but I'm wondering if I should be using the same approach as before ...

self.myVar = something

Could anyone help me understand which is better?

Thank you in advance!

ar2rsawseen

local myVar = something

would be removed once you exit the scope, which usually is a function

self.myVar = something

would be removed once whole class/object is garbage collected

So it depends on how long you need your value to live

Ninjadoodle

Hi @ar2rsawseen

Thank you for the explanation

So, if Im setting up some variables inside the scenes init function ...

Level1 = gideros.class(Sprite) function Level1:init()   local myVar1 = something self.myVar2 = something

... would both of these get removed at the same time when the scene is exited (or changed to another scene)?

Thank you again!

antix

I am not sure but I think no. In all my classes I have a custom function that attempts to cleanup any variables and resources like so..

SomeClass = Core.class()   function SomeClass.init() self.var1 = 1 self.var2 = 2 end   function SomeClass:doSomething() math.random() end   function SomeClass:dispose() self.var1 = nil self.var2 = nil end   local someThing = SomeClass.new() -- MAKE A NEW OBJECT someThing:doSomething() -- USE IT TO DO STUFF someThing:dispose() -- DISPOSE OF IT someThing = nil -- AFTER THIS IT SHOULD GET GARBAGE COLLECTED

In theory at the end of my example the class should be disposed and be ready for garbage collection.

Personally I think that's the best way, but somebody might have a better one.

ar2rsawseen

local myVar1

would be accessible only in init function and should be garbage collected automatically when exiting init function

self.myVar1

would be accessible in any method of this class and should be garbage collected automatically when class gets garbage collected.

Here is more info on garbage collection with real example including global variable
http://www.giderosmobile.com/forum/discussion/comment/9441#Comment_9441

Ninjadoodle

Hi @antix and @ar2rsawseen

Thank you again for the explanation and links, it really helps clarify things