In the release notes (current and historical), there is a link to the
`Builds` directory. By creating `Builds/README.md` with a link to
`BUILD.md`, it is easier to find the build instructions.
Make it easy for projects to depend on libxrpl by adding an `ALIAS`
target named `xrpl::libxrpl` for projects to link.
The name was chosen because:
* The current library target is named `xrpl_core`. There is no other
"non-core" library target against which we need to distinguish the
"core" library. We only export one library target, and it should just
be named after the project to keep things simple and predictable.
* Underscores in target or library names are generally discouraged.
* Every target exported in CMake should be prefixed with the project
name.
By adding an `ALIAS` target, existing consumers who use the `xrpl_core`
target will not be affected.
* In the future, there can be a migration plan to make `xrpl_core` the
`ALIAS` target (and `libxrpl` the "real" target, which will affect the
filename of the compiled binary), and eventually remove it entirely.
Also:
* Fix the Conan recipe so that consumers using Conan import a target
named `xrpl::libxrpl`. This way, every consumer can use the same
instructions.
* Document the two easiest methods to depend on libxrpl. Both have been
tested.
* See #4443.
* Remove obsolete build instructions.
* By using Conan, builders can choose which dependencies specifically to
build and link as shared objects.
* Refactor the build instructions based on the plan in #4433.
When writing objects to the NodeStore, we need to convert them from
the in-memory format to the binary format used by the node store.
The conversion is handled by the `EncodedBlob` class, which is only
instantiated on the stack. Coupled with the fact that most objects
are under 1024 bytes in size, this presents an opportunity to elide
a memory allocation in a critical path.
This commit also simplifies the interface of `EncodedBlob` and
eliminates a subtle corner case that could result in dangling
pointers.
These changes are not expected to cause a significant reduction in
memory usage. The change avoids the use of a `std::shared_ptr` when
unnecessary and tries to use stack-based memory allocation instead
of the heap whenever possible.
This is a net gain both in terms of memory usage (lower
fragmentation) and performance (less work to do at runtime).
