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NextAction refactoring to eliminate sentinel arrays and pointers (#1923)
<!-- > [!WARNING] > **This is a DRAFT PR.** > The structure is not definitive. The code might not be optimised yet. It might not even start nor compile yet. > **Don't panic. ✋ It's going to be ok. 👌 We can make modifications, we can fix things.** 😁 --> # Description This PR aims to refactor the NextAction declaration to achieve two goals: ## Eliminate C-style sentinel arrays Currently, a double pointer (`NextAction**`) approach is being used. This an old pre-C++11 (< 2011) trick before `std::vector<>` became a thing. This approach is painful for developers because they constantly need to declare their `NextAction` arrays as: ```cpp NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("foo", 1.0f), nullptr) ``` Instead of: ```cpp { new NextAction("foo", 1.0f) } ``` The first argument of `NextAction::array` is actually a hack. It is used to have a named argument so `va_args` can find the remaining arguments. It is set to 0 everywhere but in fact does nothing. This is very confusing to people unfamiliar with this antiquated syntax. The last argument `nullptr` is what we call a sentinel. It's a `nullptr` because `va_args` is looking for a `nullptr` to stop iterating. It's also a hack and also leads to confusion. ## Eliminate unnecessary pointers for `NextAction` Pointers can be used for several reasons, to cite a few: - Indicate strong, absolute identity. - Provide strong but transferable ownership (unlike references). - When a null value is acceptable (`nullptr`). - When copy is expensive. `NextAction` meets none of these criteria: - It has no identity because it is purely behavioural. - It is never owned by anything as it is passed around and never fetched from a registry. - The only situations where it can be `nullptr` are errors that should in fact throw an `std::invalid_argument` instead. - They are extremely small objects that embark a single `std::string` and a single `float`. Pointers should be avoided when not strictly necessary because they can quickly lead to undefined behaviour due to unhandled `nullptr` situations. They also make the syntax heavier due to the necessity to constantly check for `nullptr`. Finally, they aren't even good for performance in that situation because shifting a pointer so many times is likely more expensive than copying such a trivial object. # End goal The end goal is to declare `NextAction` arrays this way: ```cpp { NextAction("foo", 1.0f) } ``` > [!NOTE] > Additional note: `NextAction` is nothing but a hacky proxy to an `Action` constructor. This should eventually be reworked to use handles instead of strings. This would make copying `NextAction` even cheaper and remove the need for the extremely heavy stringly typed current approach. Stringly typed entities are a known anti-pattern so we need to move on from those.
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@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ void QuestStrategy::InitTriggers(std::vector<TriggerNode*>& triggers)
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PassTroughStrategy::InitTriggers(triggers);
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triggers.push_back(
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new TriggerNode("quest share", NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("accept quest share", relevance), nullptr)));
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new TriggerNode("quest share", { NextAction("accept quest share", relevance) }));
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}
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void DefaultQuestStrategy::InitTriggers(std::vector<TriggerNode*>& triggers)
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@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ void DefaultQuestStrategy::InitTriggers(std::vector<TriggerNode*>& triggers)
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QuestStrategy::InitTriggers(triggers);
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triggers.push_back(new TriggerNode(
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"use game object", NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance), nullptr)));
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"use game object", { NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance) }));
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triggers.push_back(new TriggerNode(
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"gossip hello", NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance), nullptr)));
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"gossip hello", { NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance) }));
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triggers.push_back(new TriggerNode(
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"complete quest", NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance), nullptr)));
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"complete quest", { NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance) }));
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}
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DefaultQuestStrategy::DefaultQuestStrategy(PlayerbotAI* botAI) : QuestStrategy(botAI) {}
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@@ -36,14 +36,14 @@ void AcceptAllQuestsStrategy::InitTriggers(std::vector<TriggerNode*>& triggers)
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QuestStrategy::InitTriggers(triggers);
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triggers.push_back(
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new TriggerNode("use game object", NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance),
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new NextAction("accept all quests", relevance), nullptr)));
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new TriggerNode("use game object", { NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance),
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NextAction("accept all quests", relevance) }));
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triggers.push_back(
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new TriggerNode("gossip hello", NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance),
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new NextAction("accept all quests", relevance), nullptr)));
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new TriggerNode("gossip hello", { NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance),
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NextAction("accept all quests", relevance) }));
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triggers.push_back(
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new TriggerNode("complete quest", NextAction::array(0, new NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance),
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new NextAction("accept all quests", relevance), nullptr)));
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new TriggerNode("complete quest", { NextAction("talk to quest giver", relevance),
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NextAction("accept all quests", relevance) }));
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}
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AcceptAllQuestsStrategy::AcceptAllQuestsStrategy(PlayerbotAI* botAI) : QuestStrategy(botAI) {}
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