RefCountable

The RefCountable class provides a lightweight reference counting mechanism for pooled objects.

Purpose

To enable safe and deterministic memory reuse of shared objects (such as events) in a high-performance, low-latency environment.

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Interface Summary

class RefCountable {
public:
  void retain() noexcept;
  bool release() noexcept;
  void resetRefCount(uint32_t value = 1) noexcept;
  uint32_t refCount() const noexcept;

protected:
  std::atomic<uint32_t> _refCount{0};
};

Responsibilities

• Track ownership count for pooled resources
• Automatically indicate when an object can be recycled
• Prevent premature release or double-free via assertions

Usage

• Inherited by IMarketDataEvent
• Used implicitly by EventHandle to manage scoped lifecycle

Notes

• Not thread-safe for shared access — designed for single-threaded ownership transfers
• Used in conjunction with EventPool and MarketDataBus