Change the return type of SharedMemory::data
#5240
Merged
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This commit is an attempt at improving the safety of using the return value of the
SharedMemory::data
method. Previously this returned*mut [u8]
which, while correct, is unwieldy and unsafe to work with. The new return value of&[UnsafeCell<u8>]
has a few advantages:The lifetime of the returned data is now connected to the
SharedMemory
itself, removing the possibility for a class of errors of accidentally using the prior*mut [u8]
beyond its original lifetime.It's now possibly to safely access
.len()
as opposed to requiring anunsafe
dereference before.The data internally within the slice is now what retains the
unsafe
bits, namely indicating that accessing any memory inside of the contents returned isunsafe
but addressing it is safe.I was inspired by the
wiggle
-based discussion on #5229 and felt it appropriate to apply a similar change here.