Re: Why do associative arrays return from opIndexAssign by value?

[deadalnix]

On Tuesday, 18 June 2013 at 09:03:27 UTC, TommiT wrote:
Associative arrays return from opIndexAssign the inserted or 
existing element by value. Why don't they return it by 
reference, which would be much more useful? Maybe not very 
common, but here's an example of the kind of situation where I 
actually would have needed it:

int[string] values;

foreach (string key; keys)
{
    int* ptr = key in values;

    if (ptr == null)
    {
        // Currently cannot write this:
        // ptr = &(values[key] = initValueFor(key));

        // The workaround is inefficient:
        values[key] = initValueFor(key);
        ptr = key in values;
    }
    edit(*ptr);
}

Assignation aren't lvalues in general, so that is consistent.

AA are screwed in much deeper way that that simple use case, and 
I do not think adding the feature right now is a wise move.