Zig's new LinkedList API (it's time to learn fieldParentPtr)

a year ago

Zig's SinglyLinkedList and DoublyLinkedList have been updated to use intrusive linked lists, which embed the node within the data structure for better performance and fewer allocations.
The new SinglyLinkedList structure is simpler and does not directly reference the data it contains, requiring the use of @fieldParentPtr to access the parent data structure from a node.
An example demonstrates how to use the new API, including creating users with embedded nodes, prepending them to the list, and iterating through the list to print user data.
@fieldParentPtr is introduced as a builtin function to safely obtain the parent structure from a field pointer, leveraging the known offset of the field within the structure.
The post discusses the trade-offs of the new API, acknowledging the complexity introduced by @fieldParentPtr but recognizing its utility in solving certain problems efficiently.

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