4 files changed, 66 insertions, 23 deletions

diff --git a/src/blitter/8bpp_optimized.cpp b/src/blitter/8bpp_optimized.cpp
index 350715dc6..62fae35c8 100644
--- a/src/blitter/8bpp_optimized.cpp
+++ b/src/blitter/8bpp_optimized.cpp
@@ -113,7 +113,12 @@ Sprite *Blitter_8bppOptimized::Encode(SpriteLoader::Sprite *sprite, Blitter::All
 
 	/* We have no idea how much memory we really need, so just guess something */
 	memory *= 5;
-	SpriteData *temp_dst = (SpriteData *)MallocT<byte>(memory);
+
+	/* Don't allocate memory each time, but just keep some
+	 * memory around as this function is called quite often
+	 * and the memory usage is quite low. */
+	static ReusableBuffer<byte> temp_buffer;
+	SpriteData *temp_dst = (SpriteData *)temp_buffer.Allocate(memory);
 	byte *dst = temp_dst->data;
 
 	/* Make the sprites per zoom-level */
@@ -195,7 +200,6 @@ Sprite *Blitter_8bppOptimized::Encode(SpriteLoader::Sprite *sprite, Blitter::All
 	dest_sprite->x_offs = sprite->x_offs;
 	dest_sprite->y_offs = sprite->y_offs;
 	memcpy(dest_sprite->data, temp_dst, size);
-	free(temp_dst);
 
 	return dest_sprite;
 }
diff --git a/src/core/alloc_type.hpp b/src/core/alloc_type.hpp
index a2bda93e4..887ba7237 100644
--- a/src/core/alloc_type.hpp
+++ b/src/core/alloc_type.hpp
@@ -71,6 +71,61 @@ struct SmallStackSafeStackAlloc {
 };
 
 /**
+ * A reusable buffer that can be used for places that temporary allocate
+ * a bit of memory and do that very often, or for places where static
+ * memory is allocated that might need to be reallocated sometimes.
+ *
+ * Every time Allocate or ZeroAllocate is called previous results of both
+ * functions will become invalid.
+ */
+template <typename T>
+class ReusableBuffer {
+private:
+	T *buffer;    ///< The real data buffer
+	size_t count; ///< Number of T elements in the buffer
+
+public:
+	/** Create a new buffer */
+	ReusableBuffer() : buffer(NULL), count(0) {}
+	/** Clear the buffer */
+	~ReusableBuffer() { free(this->buffer); }
+
+	/**
+	 * Get buffer of at least count times T.
+	 * @note the buffer might be bigger
+	 * @note calling this function invalidates any previous buffers given
+	 * @param count the minimum buffer size
+	 * @return the buffer
+	 */
+	T *Allocate(size_t count)
+	{
+		if (this->count < count) {
+			free(this->buffer);
+			this->buffer = MallocT<T>(count);
+		}
+		return this->buffer;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get buffer of at least count times T with zeroed memory.
+	 * @note the buffer might be bigger
+	 * @note calling this function invalidates any previous buffers given
+	 * @param count the minimum buffer size
+	 * @return the buffer
+	 */
+	T *ZeroAllocate(size_t count)
+	{
+		if (this->count < count) {
+			free(this->buffer);
+			this->buffer = CallocT<T>(count);
+		} else {
+			memset(this->buffer, 0, sizeof(T) * count);
+		}
+		return this->buffer;
+	}
+};
+
+/**
  * Base class that provides memory initialization on dynamically created objects.
  * All allocated memory will be zeroed.
  */
diff --git a/src/spritecache.cpp b/src/spritecache.cpp
index c5fa7f037..0e7bb9550 100644
--- a/src/spritecache.cpp
+++ b/src/spritecache.cpp
@@ -560,17 +560,4 @@ void GfxInitSpriteMem()
 	_compact_cache_counter = 0;
 }
 
-void SpriteLoader::Sprite::AllocateData(size_t size)
-{
-	if (Sprite::size < size) {
-		Sprite::size = size;
-		Sprite::mem = ReallocT<SpriteLoader::CommonPixel>(Sprite::mem, Sprite::size);
-	}
-
-	memset(Sprite::mem, 0, sizeof(SpriteLoader::CommonPixel) * size);
-
-	this->data = Sprite::mem;
-
-}
-/* static */ SpriteLoader::CommonPixel *SpriteLoader::Sprite::mem = NULL;
-/* static */ size_t SpriteLoader::Sprite::size = 0;
+/* static */ ReusableBuffer<SpriteLoader::CommonPixel> SpriteLoader::Sprite::buffer;
diff --git a/src/spriteloader/spriteloader.hpp b/src/spriteloader/spriteloader.hpp
index 9b431fb4f..762831ae4 100644
--- a/src/spriteloader/spriteloader.hpp
+++ b/src/spriteloader/spriteloader.hpp
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 #ifndef SPRITELOADER_HPP
 #define SPRITELOADER_HPP
 
+#include "../core/alloc_type.hpp"
+
 class SpriteLoader {
 public:
 	struct CommonPixel {
@@ -22,9 +24,6 @@ public:
 	 * This to prevent thousands of malloc + frees just to load a sprite.
 	 */
 	struct Sprite {
-		Sprite() : data(NULL) {}
-		~Sprite() { assert(this->data == NULL || this->data == Sprite::mem); }
-
 		uint16 height;                   ///< Height of the sprite
 		uint16 width;                    ///< Width of the sprite
 		int16 x_offs;                    ///< The x-offset of where the sprite will be drawn
@@ -35,12 +34,10 @@ public:
 		 * Allocate the sprite data of this sprite.
 		 * @param size the minimum size of the data field.
 		 */
-		void AllocateData(size_t size);
+		void AllocateData(size_t size) { this->data = Sprite::buffer.ZeroAllocate(size); }
 	private:
 		/** Allocated memory to pass sprite data around */
-		static SpriteLoader::CommonPixel *mem;
-		/** Size (in items) of the above memory. */
-		static size_t size;
+		static ReusableBuffer<SpriteLoader::CommonPixel> buffer;
 	};
 
 	/**