canonical/mir

Add `wl_array` wrapper

Open

#4,159 opened on Aug 28, 2025

View on GitHub
 (1 comment) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)C++ (137 forks)auto 404
Good first issue

Repository metrics

Stars
 (775 stars)
PR merge metrics
 (PR metrics pending)

Description

Mir doesn't have a wrapper for wl_array, which occasionally leads to memory leaks (see #4158) (and maybe other more nefarious bugs?). Creating a C++ wrapper for internal use in Mir would protect us against such issues in the future.

This issue should be pretty straightforward, add the wrapper which would init on creation and release on destruction, grep for occurrences of wl_array, and replace that with the new wrapper. Should be a drop in replacement.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Understand wl array usage in Mir, create a RAII wrapper class that initializes and destroys wl array, then replace raw wl array occurrences in the codebase.
Tech stack
cpp
Domain
backend
Issue type
Refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
C++Memory management
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
75