In general I use pointers to data structures and especially when they are arrays.
Take the following PIntArray: ^TIntArray; TIntArray:Array of Integer; 1st benefit: declaring methods associated with classes before TIntArray needs to be defined or declared. eg. procedure DoSomething(Var Data:TIntArray); vs (DataP:PIntArray); Non-obvious benefit to all FPC users FPC forces the ^ operator while accessing structures as pointers. Delphi didn't force it and I even suspect that memory leaks can result in NOT using the ^ to denote the reference to the pointer rather than the pointer itself. Lastly, passing by reference rather than by value is much faster. Since copies need not be made when entering a method when entered using a Pointer declaration vs DoSomething(Data:TIntArray). In the latter a copy of the calling Data array would be made, slowing the application and using more memory - and for recursive methods lead to the Stack running out of memory. _______________________________________________ fpc-pascal maillist - fpc-pascal@lists.freepascal.org http://lists.freepascal.org/mailman/listinfo/fpc-pascal
