Are dictionaries on the stack or on the heap?

7 points · 2 comments · view on lemmy.world

2 Comments

roanutil_@programming.dev · 2 pts · 2y

I can’t look at the source right now, but it’s likely heap. Swift stdlib collections typically use a buffer that is a reference type. The whole ‘copy on write’ thing requires reference types somewhere in the guts (if I remember correctly).

mattie@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y

Dictionary is a value type so it is stack-allocated. But that value is a pretty thin wrapper around a heap-allocated backing store. I’m not sure how useful it is to think about or even know that detail. I hate doing the cliché thing here, but can I ask why you are asking?