So far I have not been able to find any confirmation of whether client references to objects always sync in all cases. Could an object stream back in under a different memory identity and old reference would remain useless with Parent == nil? Is there any concrete proof that this never happens?
I would assume not. The server and the client understand the same instances because they maintain a certain UID across the network. This UID is assigned on creation, and replicated to the client. By suggesting that the UID changes as the instance streams, you’re suggesting the stationary instance on the server is changing as well, which can’t be justified
I.e. It’s not about memory, it’s about a UID attributed to the instance, which has no reason to change
I hope not. But I have experienced much less rational behavior than this before so I wouldn’t be surprised if it just changed them anyway! I found some mentions of this “replacing” and some red herrings so a concrete proof of this would be much appreciated.