In ufo-org/ufo-r-operators: Operator overloads for UFO vectors

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This document explains the concepts and internal architecture of UFOs.

The UFO package consists of two layers: - the R UFO API - the core framework

R UFO API

The R UFO API is there to facilitate the use of the UFO framework for R programmers.

New UFOs

Currently the R UFO API is predominantly focused on usage by R package developers working on C or C++ who wish to add custom vectors to their packages. UFOs have two functions with which new vectors can be created:

SEXP ufo_new(ufo_source_t*);
SEXP ufo_new_multidim(ufo_source_t* source);

The ufo_new function prepares a custom R allocator (R_allocator_t) based on the information provided from the source structure (see below) and allocates an R vector using that allocator. The function will also start up the UFO core framework on first use.

The R interpreter allows vectors to be allocated using custom allocators in place of malloc. A custom allocator defines an allocator function analog and a free function analog that R will use to create and destroy the vector. The allocator is supposed to prepare a contiguous area of memory that the R interpreter can use. Specifically, during creation, the R interpreter will write a header to the beginning of the memory and then use the rest to store elements of the vector later on.