because using this more consistently throughout the codebase makes it
easier to maintain code.
We also do not want to call the copy constructor on them, using pointers
just makes this more obvious. Further, casting is also something
that's commonly done on pointers and not references.
And if you want a value or a reference, just use QgsGeometry, it's meant
to be handled like this.
All pointer based methods have been removed.
Now we have only:
void setGeometry( const QgsGeometry& geom )
and
QgsGeometry geometry() const
Benefits include avoiding a whole lot of tricky pointer lifetime
issues, potential memory leaks, and finally closing #777, which
has survived for over 9 years!...
Impacts on PyQGIS code:
- no more need for the messy
g = QgsGeometry( feature.geometry() )
workaround, just use g = feature.geometry() instead
- IMPORTANT: you can no longer test whether a feature has geometry
using `if f.geometry():`, since QgsFeature::geometry() will
*always* return an object. Instead, use
`if not f.geometry().isEmpty():`, or preferably the new method
`if not f.hasGeometry():`
Fix#777
