Classes, Objects & Handles · SystemVerilog

Part 2 · OOP for Verification · Intermediate

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6lessons

Topics in this section

A class is a blueprint. Calling new builds an object on the heap, and a handle is the only way to reach it.

The class is code, the object is memory built at run time, and the handle is the variable that points at it.

Idea	What it is	Where it lives
Class	A type definition: properties plus methods	Compiled code, no memory
Object	One runtime instance built by new	Simulator heap
Handle	A reference variable pointing at an object, or null	Any variable of a class type

Lesson	Content
Class Declaration & Objects	Transaction objects with new, and the construction flow.
Handles vs Objects	Aliasing checks, null guards, and reachability.
Constructors & super.new()	Argument forwarding through an inheritance chain.
Shallow vs Deep Copy	Independent snapshots for scoreboards.
this, Scope & Nested Classes	Name resolution and forward declarations.

Check yourself A handle points at object A. It is assigned a new object B, and no other reference to A exists. What happens to A?

Nothing immediate happens to A. The handle now points at B. A becomes unreachable, so the simulator may reclaim it. Reclamation timing is implementation-dependent.

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