refactor: implement table pooling and out-of-combat cleanup to reduce memory allocation overhead and garbage collection pressure

HealBot_Controller_Events.lua

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 HealBot_View_DirtyUnits = {}
 HealBot_View_DirtyPower = {}
+local unitsToRefresh = {}
+local powerToRefresh = {}
 local HealBot_Timer1, HealsIn_Timer = 0, 0;
 HealBot_LastModState = ""
 
@@ -152,7 +154,7 @@ function HealBot_OnUpdate(this, arg1)
     end
 
     -- Process Dirty Queue for MVC View
-    local unitsToRefresh = {}
+    for k in pairs(unitsToRefresh) do unitsToRefresh[k] = nil end
     for unitID in pairs(HealBot_View_DirtyUnits) do
         unitsToRefresh[unitID] = true
         HealBot_View_DirtyUnits[unitID] = nil
@@ -162,7 +164,7 @@ function HealBot_OnUpdate(this, arg1)
         HealBot_Action_Refresh(unitID)
     end
     
-    local powerToRefresh = {}
+    for k in pairs(powerToRefresh) do powerToRefresh[k] = nil end
     for unitID in pairs(HealBot_View_DirtyPower) do
         powerToRefresh[unitID] = true
         HealBot_View_DirtyPower[unitID] = nil
@@ -490,6 +492,14 @@ end
 function HealBot_OnEvent_PlayerRegenEnabled(this)
     HealBot_IsFighting = false;
     HealBot_Delay_RecalcParty = 1;
+    
+    if HealBot_IncomingHealers then
+        for sender, data in pairs(HealBot_IncomingHealers) do
+            if not HealBot_FindUnitID(sender) then
+                HealBot_IncomingHealers[sender] = nil
+            end
+        end
+    end
 end
 
 -- HealBot_OnEvent_PlayerTargetChanged: Internal utility: HealBot_OnEvent_PlayerTargetChanged

HealBot_Model.lua

@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 -- HealBot_Model.lua
 -- Centralized Data Store and Observer System for HealBotBlue
 
+local pool_oldGUIDs = {}
+local pool_newUnitForGUID = {}
+local pool_stateSwaps = {}
+local pool_iconSwaps = {}
+local pool_missingBuffSwaps = {}
+local pool_debuffSwaps = {}
+
 -- Safe local wrappers to prevent native UIDropDownMenu concatenation crashes
 -- when setting selected values on closed dropdowns during initialization.
 function HealBot_UIDropDownMenu_SetSelectedID(frame, id, useValue)
@@ -180,14 +187,16 @@ end
 function HealBot_Model:PreserveStateByGUID()
     if not (HealBot_Integrations_SuperWoW_Active or HealBot_Integrations_ClassicAPI_Active) or not HealBot_GetUnitGUID then return end
     
-    local oldGUIDs = {}
+    for k in pairs(pool_oldGUIDs) do pool_oldGUIDs[k] = nil end
+    local oldGUIDs = pool_oldGUIDs
     for unit, guid in pairs(self.unitGUIDs) do
         if string.find(unit, "^party") or string.find(unit, "^raid") or unit == "player" or unit == "pet" then
             oldGUIDs[unit] = guid
         end
     end
     
-    local newUnitForGUID = {}
+    for k in pairs(pool_newUnitForGUID) do pool_newUnitForGUID[k] = nil end
+    local newUnitForGUID = pool_newUnitForGUID
     -- Scan the new roster
     for _, unit in ipairs(self.partyMembers) do
         local guid = HealBot_GetUnitGUID(unit)
@@ -206,10 +215,14 @@ function HealBot_Model:PreserveStateByGUID()
         end
     end
     
-    local stateSwaps = {}
-    local iconSwaps = {}
-    local missingBuffSwaps = {}
-    local debuffSwaps = {}
+    for k in pairs(pool_stateSwaps) do pool_stateSwaps[k] = nil end
+    local stateSwaps = pool_stateSwaps
+    for k in pairs(pool_iconSwaps) do pool_iconSwaps[k] = nil end
+    local iconSwaps = pool_iconSwaps
+    for k in pairs(pool_missingBuffSwaps) do pool_missingBuffSwaps[k] = nil end
+    local missingBuffSwaps = pool_missingBuffSwaps
+    for k in pairs(pool_debuffSwaps) do pool_debuffSwaps[k] = nil end
+    local debuffSwaps = pool_debuffSwaps
     
     for oldUnit, guid in pairs(oldGUIDs) do
         local newUnit = newUnitForGUID[guid]
@@ -231,11 +244,22 @@ function HealBot_Model:PreserveStateByGUID()
     
     for targetUnit, stateData in pairs(stateSwaps) do
         -- Deep copy to prevent memory aliasing
-        self.units[targetUnit] = {}
+        if not self.units[targetUnit] then 
+            self.units[targetUnit] = { icons = {} } 
+        end
+        
+        local targetIcons = self.units[targetUnit].icons
+        if not targetIcons then targetIcons = {} end
+        for k in pairs(targetIcons) do targetIcons[k] = nil end
+        
+        for k in pairs(self.units[targetUnit]) do self.units[targetUnit][k] = nil end
+        
         for k, v in pairs(stateData) do
+            if k ~= "icons" then
                 self.units[targetUnit][k] = v
             end
-        self.units[targetUnit].icons = {}
+        end
+        self.units[targetUnit].icons = targetIcons
 
         if HealBot_UnitIcons and iconSwaps[targetUnit] then
             if not HealBot_UnitIcons[targetUnit] then HealBot_UnitIcons[targetUnit] = {} end

README.md

@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ Default installation path: `C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns\
 ### Change Log
 
 **v1.7.1**
+* **Performance Fix - Table Pooling** - Fixed massive Vanilla Lua 5.0 garbage collection memory leaks caused by unbounded table allocations in high-frequency update loops (e.g., `OnUpdate` and `PreserveStateByGUID`). Moved tables to file-local scope and implemented inline clearing.
+* **Performance Fix - OOC Cleanup** - Added an out-of-combat garbage collection hook (`PLAYER_REGEN_ENABLED`) to purge disconnected senders from the `HealBot_IncomingHealers` global table, preventing memory bloat during prolonged play sessions.
 * **Bug Fix - Incoming Heals Comms** - Fixed a regex string parsing bug that caused incoming heals from other HealBot instances to drop if a unit's name contained non-alphabetic characters (e.g. dashes or spaces in pet names).
 * **Feature - Standard HealComm Sync** - Implemented lightweight parsing of the standard `HealComm` addon channel. HealBot now perfectly syncs incoming heals with modern raid frames like Luna, Grid, and pfUI, while retaining backwards compatibility with older versions of HealBot.
 * **UI Update - Raid Marks** - Anchored raid target icons to top of unit frames instead of center.