Automatic pointer conversion / stable addresses for stored properties

[glessard (Guillaume Lessard)]

@atierian

The first one ( inout can make a copy) doesn't apply because

var lock = os_unfair_lock()
os_unfair_lock_lock(&lock)

...isn't actually an inout , it's passing by pointer.

That is not a real pointer. That is not valid for a long-lasting value such as a lock.

What you need in order to use a lock (or any construct that relies on the processor's atomic instructions) is to allocate on the heap, using UnsafeMutablePointer.allocate(). That will get you a pointer that you can rely on. You can wrap that allocated pointer in a (final) class for convenience (and deal with cleanup/deallocation). There are many correct implementations like that out there.