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+# Crash Course: service locator
+
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+@cond TURN_OFF_DOXYGEN
+-->
+# Table of Contents
+
+* [Introduction](#introduction)
+* [Service locator](#service-locator)
+  * [Opaque handles](#opaque-handles)
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+@endcond TURN_OFF_DOXYGEN
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+
+# Introduction
+
+Usually, service locators are tightly bound to the services they expose and it's
+hard to define a general purpose solution.<br/>
+This tiny class tries to fill the gap and gets rid of the burden of defining a
+different specific locator for each application.
+
+# Service locator
+
+The service locator API tries to mimic that of `std::optional` and adds some
+extra functionalities on top of it such as allocator support.<br/>
+There are a couple of functions to set up a service, namely `emplace` and
+`allocate_emplace`:
+
+```cpp
+entt::locator<interface>::emplace<service>(argument);
+entt::locator<interface>::allocate_emplace<service>(allocator, argument);
+```
+
+The difference is that the latter expects an allocator as the first argument and
+uses it to allocate the service itself.<br/>
+Once a service is set up, it's retrieved using the `value` function:
+
+```cpp
+interface &service = entt::locator<interface>::value();
+```
+
+Since the service may not be set (and therefore this function may result in an
+undefined behavior), the `has_value` and `value_or` functions are also available
+to test a service locator and to get a fallback service in case there is none:
+
+```cpp
+if(entt::locator<interface>::has_value()) {
+    // ...
+}
+
+interface &service = entt::locator<interface>::value_or<fallback_impl>(argument);
+```
+
+All arguments are used only if necessary, that is, if a service doesn't already
+exist and therefore the fallback service is constructed and returned. In all
+other cases, they are discarded.<br/>
+Finally, to reset a service, use the `reset` function.
+
+## Opaque handles
+
+Sometimes it's useful to _transfer_ a copy of a service to another locator. For
+example, when working across boundaries it's common to _share_ a service with a
+dynamically loaded module.<br/>
+Options aren't much in this case. Among these is the possibility of _exporting_
+services and assigning them to a different locator.
+
+This is what the `handle` and `reset` functions are meant for.<br/>
+The former returns an opaque object useful for _exporting_ (or rather, obtaining
+a reference to) a service. The latter also accepts an optional argument to a
+handle which then allows users to reset a service by initializing it with an
+opaque handle:
+
+```cpp
+auto handle = entt::locator<interface>::handle();
+entt::locator<interface>::reset(handle);
+```
+
+It's worth noting that it's possible to get handles for uninitialized services
+and use them with other locators. Of course, all a user will get is to have an
+uninitialized service elsewhere as well.
+
+Note that exporting a service allows users to _share_ the object currently set
+in a locator. Replacing it won't replace the element even where a service has
+been configured with a handle to the previous item.<br/>
+In other words, if an audio service is replaced with a null object to silence an
+application and the original service was shared, this operation won't propagate
+to the other locators. Therefore, a module that share the ownership of the
+original audio service is still able to emit sounds.