On 2011-03-03 08:16, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
On Wednesday 02 March 2011 23:12:43 %u wrote:
Well, it wouldn't be universal then. For a function to be treated
as a property, it would require an annotation, but universal
function call syntax isn't supposed to require an annotation any
more than calling a function on an array as if it were a member
function requires an annotation. It's supposed to work with any
function.
So are you saying a hypothetical function like
char[] strcpy(char[] destination, const char[] source);
should be callable like:
myString.strcpy(myString2);
?
Isn't that asking for disaster, since it does the exact opposite of
what the user expects (since the source and destination are
switched)?
I think we need an annotation for this (even for arrays), since
otherwise it's too easy to go wrong.
How are the destination and source switched? The arguments are in the exact same
order, only now one of them is to the left of the function name. It's been like
this with arrays for a long time. It's not going away, and it's not going to
require an annotation. That would be a big change to the language, and the
ability to call arrays like this is well-liked and often-used. And a number of
people definitely want uniform function call syntax to be implemented so that it
works for all types.
I don't see what's easy to go wrong with this syntax. It's quite
straightforward. It's been around for quite a while. And it's well-liked. It's
not going to be changed. The only question is whether it's ever going to be
implemented for types in general.
- Jonathan M Davis
What I think he means is, if you see a function call like this:
myString.strcpy(myString2);
You would expect "myString" to be the source and "myString2" the
destination.
--
/Jacob Carlborg
