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Add in-place math methods (set, add, sub, mul) to Vector and Matrix classes - #5279

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Add in-place math methods (set, add, sub, mul) to Vector and Matrix classes#5279
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MohabCodeX:feat/vector-matrix-inplace-methods

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Fixes #321

Add in-place math and mutation methods to Vector2, Vector3, Vector4, and Matrix objects.

What was happening before

Doing arithmetic on vectors (e.g. pos = pos + vel or dir = (target - pos) * 0.5) creates a brand-new heap object on every single operation and leaves the previous one for Lua's garbage collector.

In high-frequency rendering and physics loops (onClientRender, projectile simulations, drawing radar blips), doing vector calculations per frame easily generates 50,000+ short-lived userdata objects every second, causing continuous GC pressure and micro-stutters.

What this PR does

This adds in-place mutation methods that modify existing vector/matrix memory directly, avoiding heap allocations and GC churn. All methods return self (*this) so you can chain operations cleanly on a single line.

The existing +, -, *, / operators stay completely untouched for backwards compatibility.

Performance

Benchmark / Scenario Old Binary Math (+) In-Place Math (:addScaled) Practical Difference
In-game jump loop (100 frames) 28.96 KB garbage created 0.41 KB memory delta ~70x reduction in memory churn
100k operations (Execution Time) 220 ms 43 ms ~5x faster execution speed
100k operations (Heap Garbage) ~380 KB allocated 0 KB allocated Zero userdata objects created

New methods

Vector math (Vector2, Vector3, Vector4)

All vector classes now support in-place arithmetic and assignment. Every method accepts either separate numeric components or another vector of the same type, and returns self:

  • vec:set(x, y, [z, w]) or vec:set(otherVec) -- Overwrites the vector's coordinates in-place.
  • vec:add(x, y, [z, w]) or vec:add(otherVec) -- In-place addition (this += other).
  • vec:sub(x, y, [z, w]) or vec:sub(otherVec) -- In-place subtraction (this -= other).
  • vec:mul(factor) or vec:mul(otherVec) -- Multiplies by a scalar or component-wise.
  • vec:scale(factor) -- Alias for :mul(factor) when scaling uniformly.
  • vec:div(divisor) or vec:div(otherVec) -- Divides by a scalar or component-wise.
  • vec:addScaled(otherVec, scaleFactor) -- Adds another vector multiplied by a scalar (this += other * scale). Useful for physics integration (pos:addScaled(vel, dt)).

Vector3-specific:

  • vec:setCross(otherVec) -- Computes the cross product in-place (this = this x other). Note that existing vec:cross(other) remains unchanged to return a new vector for compatibility.

Matrix operations (Matrix):

  • mat:set(otherMat) -- Copies another matrix's elements in-place.
  • mat:setIdentity() / mat:setZero() -- Resets matrix to identity or zero.
  • mat:add(otherMat) / mat:sub(otherMat) / mat:mul(otherMat) -- In-place matrix arithmetic.
  • mat:invert() -- Inverts the matrix in-place (distinct from mat:inverse() which returns a new copy).

Usage example

-- Physics simulation in onClientPreRender without allocating vector userdata:
local pos = Vector3(0, 0, 5)
local vel = Vector3(15, 0, 0)
local gravity = Vector3(0, 0, -9.8)

addEventHandler("onClientPreRender", root, function(deltaTime)
    local dt = deltaTime / 1000

    -- Integrate velocity and apply gravity in-place
    vel:addScaled(gravity, dt)
    pos:addScaled(vel, dt)

    setElementPosition(localPlayer, pos)
end)

Testing

You can verify all new methods directly via crun / srun:

1. Vector2 (set, add, sub, mul, div, scale, addScaled):

crun local v = Vector2(0, 0); v:set(10, 20):add(5, 5):sub(5, 5):mul(2):div(2):scale(2):addScaled(Vector2(5, 5), 2); outputChatBox(tostring(v))
-- Expected: vector2: { x = 30.000, y = 50.000 }

2. Vector3 (set, add, sub, mul, div, scale, addScaled):

crun local v = Vector3(0, 0, 0); v:set(10, 20, 30):add(10, 10, 10):sub(5, 5, 5):mul(2):div(2):scale(2):addScaled(Vector3(1, 1, 1), 10); outputChatBox(tostring(v))
-- Expected: vector3: { x = 40.000, y = 60.000, z = 80.000 }

3. Vector3 Cross Product (setCross):

crun local v = Vector3(1, 0, 0); v:setCross(Vector3(0, 1, 0)); outputChatBox("Cross: " .. tostring(v))
-- Expected: Cross: vector3: { x = 0.000, y = 0.000, z = 1.000 }

4. Vector4 (set, add, sub, mul, div, scale, addScaled):

crun local v = Vector4(0, 0, 0, 0); v:set(10, 20, 30, 40):add(10, 10, 10, 10):sub(5, 5, 5, 5):mul(2):div(2):scale(2):addScaled(Vector4(1, 1, 1), 10); outputChatBox(tostring(v))
-- Expected: vector4: { x = 40.000, y = 60.000, z = 80.000, w = 100.000 }

5. Matrix (setIdentity, add, sub, invert):

crun local m1 = Matrix(); m1:setIdentity():setPosition(Vector3(10, 20, 30)); local m2 = Matrix(); m2:setIdentity():setPosition(Vector3(5, 5, 5)); m1:add(m2):sub(m2):invert(); outputChatBox("Matrix Inv: " .. tostring(m1:getPosition()))
-- Expected: Matrix Inv: vector3: { x = -10.000, y = -20.000, z = -30.000 }

6. Matrix (set, setZero):

crun local m = Matrix(); m:setIdentity():setPosition(Vector3(10, 20, 30)); local copy = Matrix(); copy:set(m); m:setZero(); outputChatBox("Copy Pos: " .. tostring(copy:getPosition()) .. " | Zero Pos: " .. tostring(m:getPosition()))
-- Expected: Copy Pos: vector3: { x = 10.000, y = 20.000, z = 30.000 } | Zero Pos: vector3: { x = 0.000, y = 0.000, z = 0.000 }

- Add in-place mutation methods (:set, :add, :sub, :mul, :div, :scale, :addScaled)
  to Vector2, Vector3, and Vector4 classes.
- Add in-place cross product (:setCross) to Vector3 class.
- Add in-place matrix operations (:set, :setIdentity, :setZero, :add, :sub, :mul, :invert)
  to Matrix class.
- Return the target instance directly from Lua stack index 1 to enable fluent method chaining.
@FileEX FileEX added the bugfix Solution to a bug of any kind label Aug 30, 2026
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Vectors are incredibly slow

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