Minor tidying and cleanup

src/connection.cpp

@@ -7,27 +7,14 @@
 
 // TODO fix up this whole thing
 
-std::unique_ptr<Connection>
-Connection::createForServer(struct sockaddr_storage addr, int fd, int64_t id,
-                            size_t epoll_index, ConnectionHandler *handler,
-                            std::weak_ptr<Server> server) {
-  // Use unique_ptr constructor with private access (friend function)
-  // We can't use make_unique here because constructor is private
-  return std::unique_ptr<Connection>(
-      new Connection(addr, fd, id, epoll_index, handler, server));
-}
-
 Connection::Connection(struct sockaddr_storage addr, int fd, int64_t id,
                        size_t epoll_index, ConnectionHandler *handler,
-                       std::weak_ptr<Server> server)
+                       Server &server)
     : fd_(fd), id_(id), epoll_index_(epoll_index), addr_(addr), arena_(),
-      handler_(handler), server_(server) {
-  if (auto server_ptr = server_.lock()) {
-    server_ptr->active_connections_.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
-  }
-  if (handler_) {
+      handler_(handler), server_(server.weak_from_this()) {
+  server.active_connections_.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  assert(handler_);
   handler_->on_connection_established(*this);
-  }
 }
 
 Connection::~Connection() {

src/connection.hpp

@@ -319,34 +319,10 @@ private:
    * @param fd File descriptor for the socket connection
    * @param id Unique connection identifier generated by the server
    * @param handler Protocol handler for processing connection data
-   * @param server Weak reference to the server for safe cleanup
+   * @param server Reference to server associated with this connection
    */
   Connection(struct sockaddr_storage addr, int fd, int64_t id,
-             size_t epoll_index, ConnectionHandler *handler,
-             std::weak_ptr<Server> server);
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Server-only factory method for creating connections.
-   *
-   * This factory method can only be called by the Server class due to friend
-   * access. It provides controlled connection creation with proper resource
-   * management.
-   *
-   * @param addr Network address of the remote client (IPv4/IPv6 compatible)
-   * @param fd File descriptor for the socket connection
-   * @param id Unique connection identifier generated by the server
-   * @param handler Protocol handler for processing connection data
-   * @param server Weak reference to the server for safe cleanup
-   *
-   * @return std::unique_ptr<Connection> to the newly created connection
-   *
-   * @note This method is only accessible to the Server class and should be used
-   * exclusively by I/O threads when new connections arrive.
-   */
-  static std::unique_ptr<Connection>
-  createForServer(struct sockaddr_storage addr, int fd, int64_t id,
-                  size_t epoll_index, ConnectionHandler *handler,
-                  std::weak_ptr<Server> server);
+             size_t epoll_index, ConnectionHandler *handler, Server &server);
 
   // Networking interface - only accessible by Server
   int readBytes(char *buf, size_t buffer_size);

src/connection_registry.hpp

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #include <sys/resource.h>
 
-class Connection;
+struct Connection;
 
 /**
  * mmap-based Connection Registry for tracking active connections.

src/server.cpp

@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ int Server::createLocalConnection() {
   // Create Connection object
   auto connection = std::unique_ptr<Connection>(new Connection(
       addr, server_fd, connection_id_.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed),
-      epoll_index, &handler_, weak_from_this()));
+      epoll_index, &handler_, *this));
 
   // Store in registry
   connection_registry_.store(server_fd, std::move(connection));
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ void Server::start_io_threads(std::vector<std::thread> &threads) {
             batch[batch_count] = std::unique_ptr<Connection>(new Connection(
                 addr, fd,
                 connection_id_.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed),
-                epoll_index, &handler_, weak_from_this()));
+                epoll_index, &handler_, *this));
             batch_events[batch_count] =
                 EPOLLIN; // New connections always start with read
             batch_count++;

src/server.hpp

@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ public:
   static void releaseBackToServer(std::unique_ptr<Connection> connection);
 
 private:
-  friend class Connection;
+  friend struct Connection;
   /**
    * Private constructor - use create() factory method instead.
    *