UObjects

UObjects are a fundamental concept within the Unreal Engine, serving as the base class for most objects that exist within the engine's ecosystem. This base class provides a common set of functionalities and metadata that are essential for objects to integrate with the Unreal Engine's systems. Every UObject has a pointer to its class, allowing for reflection and dynamic type checking. This reflection system is crucial for features like serialization, garbage collection, and the editor's property editing capabilities.

Key features provided by UObject include automatic garbage collection, which manages memory for objects, preventing leaks. It also enables object instantiation and destruction through the engine's runtime. UObjects support a robust property system, allowing properties to be exposed to the editor, networked across clients, and saved to disk. This property system is heavily utilized by the Unreal Engine's editor for visual scripting, C++ class derivation, and asset management. Furthermore, UObjects are the basis for the engine's event and delegate system, facilitating communication between different parts of the game or application. Understanding UObjects is paramount for any developer working with Unreal Engine, as it underpins how most of the engine's functionality operates.