Creates a slice to the given pointer, bounded by the given size. This method does not allocate heap memory.

ptr = Pointer.malloc(9) { |i| ('a'.ord + i).to_u8 }

slice = Slice.new(ptr, 3)
slice.size # => 3
slice      # => Bytes[97, 98, 99]

String.new(slice) # => "abc"

Allocates size * sizeof(T) bytes of heap memory initialized to value and returns a slice pointing to that memory.

The memory is allocated by the GC, so when there are no pointers to this memory, it will be automatically freed.

slice = Slice.new(3, 10)
slice # => Slice[10, 10, 10]

Allocates size * sizeof(T) bytes of heap memory initialized to zero and returns a slice pointing to that memory.

The memory is allocated by the GC, so when there are no pointers to this memory, it will be automatically freed.

Only works for primitive integers and floats (UInt8, Int32, Float64, etc.)

slice = Slice(UInt8).new(3)
slice # => Bytes[0, 0, 0]

Allocates size * sizeof(T) bytes of heap memory initialized to the value returned by the block (which is invoked once with each index in the range 0...size) and returns a slice pointing to that memory.

The memory is allocated by the GC, so when there are no pointers to this memory, it will be automatically freed.

slice = Slice.new(3) { |i| i + 10 }
slice # => Slice[10, 11, 12]

Creates an empty slice.

slice = Slice(UInt8).empty
slice.size # => 0

Returns a new slice that is offset elements apart from this slice.

slice = Slice.new(5) { |i| i + 10 }
slice # => Slice[10, 11, 12, 13, 14]

slice2 = slice + 2
slice2 # => Slice[12, 13, 14]

Returns a new slice that starts at start elements from this slice's start, and of count size.

Raises IndexError if the new slice falls outside this slice.

slice = Slice.new(5) { |i| i + 10 }
slice # => Slice[10, 11, 12, 13, 14]

slice2 = slice[1, 3]
slice2 # => Slice[11, 12, 13]

Sets the given value at the given index.

Negative indices can be used to start counting from the end of the slice. Raises IndexError if trying to set an element outside the slice's range.

slice = Slice.new(5) { |i| i + 10 }
slice[0] = 20
slice[-1] = 30
slice # => Slice[20, 11, 12, 13, 30]

slice[10] = 1 # raises IndexError

Returns a copy of this slice. This method allocates memory for the slice copy.

Copies the contents of source into this slice.

Raises IndexError if the desination slice cannot fit the data being transferred.

Copies the contents of this slice into target.

Raises IndexError if the desination slice cannot fit the data being transferred e.g. dest.size < self.size.

src = Slice['a', 'a', 'a']
dst = Slice['b', 'b', 'b', 'b', 'b']
src.copy_to dst
dst             # => Slice['a', 'a', 'a', 'b', 'b']
dst.copy_to src # raises IndexError

Returns a hexdump of this slice, assuming it's a Slice(UInt8). This method is specially useful for debugging binary data and incoming/outgoing data in protocols.

slice = UInt8.slice(97, 62, 63, 8, 255)
slice.hexdump # => "00000000  61 3e 3f 08 ff                                    a>?.."

Returns a hexstring representation of this slice, assuming it's a Slice(UInt8).

slice = UInt8.slice(97, 62, 63, 8, 255)
slice.hexstring # => "613e3f08ff"

Moves the contents of source into this slice. source and self may overlap; the copy is always done in a non-destructive manner.

Raises IndexError if the desination slice cannot fit the data being transferred.

Moves the contents of this slice into target. target and self may overlap; the copy is always done in a non-destructive manner.

Raises IndexError if the desination slice cannot fit the data being transferred e.g. dest.size < self.size.

src = Slice['a', 'a', 'a']
dst = Slice['b', 'b', 'b', 'b', 'b']
src.move_to dst
dst             # => Slice['a', 'a', 'a', 'b', 'b']
dst.move_to src # raises IndexError

See also: Pointer#move_to.

Returns true if this slice cannot be written to.

Reverses in-place all the elements of self.

Returns the size of this slice.

Slice(UInt8).new(3).size # => 3

Returns this slice's pointer.

slice = Slice.new(3, 10)
slice.to_unsafe[0] # => 10

Create a new Slice with the given args. The type of the slice will be the union of the type of the given args.

The slice is allocated on the heap.

slice = Slice[1, 'a']
slice[0]    # => 1
slice[1]    # => 'a'
slice.class # => Slice(Char | Int32)

If T is a Number then this is equivalent to Number.slice (numbers will be coerced to the type T)

See also: Number.slice.