orium/archery — Abstract over the atomicity of reference-counting pointers in rust

Description and use

**Brief summary (2‑3 sentences)**
Archery is a small Rust library that abstracts over the atomicity of reference‑counted pointers (e.g., Arc, Rc). It lets you write code that can switch between thread‑safe and non‑thread‑safe reference counting without changing the surrounding logic, simplifying the development of generic data structures and APIs that may be used in both single‑threaded and multi‑threaded contexts.

**Value**

• **Unified API** – By providing a single trait and wrapper types, Archery eliminates the need for duplicated code paths for Arc<T> and Rc<T>.
• **Zero‑cost abstraction** – When compiled for a single‑threaded target the library resolves to Rc, avoiding the overhead of atomic operations; on a multi‑threaded target it resolves to Arc.
• **Improved ergonomics** – The crate supplies helper macros and conversion utilities that make it easy to expose a consistent public interface while retaining optimal performance for each deployment scenario.

**Practical adoption path**

1. **Proof‑of‑concept** – Add archery as a dev‑dependency in a sandbox crate and replace a few Arc/Rc usages with the library’s ArcOrRc<T> (or the trait it provides). Verify that the code compiles for both #[cfg(feature = "threaded")] and the default single‑threaded build.
2. **README validation** – Review the repository’s README and example folder to confirm that the documented usage matches your intended workflow (e.g., custom data structures, async runtimes, or embedded contexts).
3. **Integration test** – Write a small integration test that builds the same crate twice—once with the “threaded” feature enabled and once without—to ensure the abstraction behaves correctly in both modes.
4. **Dependency audit** – Check the crate’s dependency tree (it is lightweight, with only the standard library as a requirement) and run cargo audit to confirm no known security issues.

**Production readiness**

• **Maturity**: 173 stars and recent activity (last commit on 2026‑06‑24) indicate an active, community‑tested project, but the overall star count is modest, suggesting a relatively small user base.
• **Stability**: The API is simple and has few transitive dependencies, which reduces the surface for breaking changes. However, the crate does not yet have a formal stability guarantee (e.g., semver‑major version bump policy).
• **Risk level**: Medium. The library is suitable for prototypes, internal tools, or services where the atomicity switch is a clear benefit, but you should perform the small proof‑of‑concept and monitor the repository for future breaking changes before rolling it out to a large production system.

In short, Archery offers a clean way to write reference‑counting code that can be compiled for either single‑ or multi‑threaded environments with negligible runtime cost. Start with a limited pilot to verify the abstraction fits your codebase, and, after confirming the README examples and performing a dependency audit, you can consider it production‑ready for internal workloads while keeping an eye on future releases.

Problem

orium/archery may be useful when its README and activity match a concrete workflow.

Outcome

Medium: useful for prototypes or internal workflows, with dependency and maintenance checks before production.

Evidence

Abstract over the atomicity of reference-counting pointers in rust

Source