Why we need UPROPERTY()

[tctoki]

Hi, I wonder why we need UPROPERTY() for components?

	UPROPERTY()
	UPhysicsHandleComponent* PhysicsHandle = nullptr;
	UPROPERTY()
	UInputComponent* InputComponent = nullptr;

It is empty, what does it do?

[DanM]

It’s to be counted for by garbage collection
https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/Programming/UnrealArchitecture/Objects/Optimizations/index.html#garbagecollection

Without it the garbage collector could potentially be collected whilst you’re still using it. For components that’s rather unlikely as the actor it’s attached to should hold a reference to it but it’s good to get into the habbit of it.