Le 16/06/2011 16:50, Tom Van Cutsem a écrit :
2011/6/16 Mark S. Miller <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
Ok good, I'll take you up on that. I propose that ES-next arrays
differ from ES5 arrays in that their 'length' property appears to
be a non-configurable accessor property. Clearly, that better
reflects the way Array's 'length' works anyway. Alternatively, if
there's some problem with that, I propose that array 'length'
appears to be a configurable data property that arrays
nevertheless refuse to delete. Either way, proxies would then be
able to emulate them faithfully.
This is also my feeling: part of the awkwardness in emulating array
"length" is definitely that we're trying to mimic the behavior of an
accessor property using a mutable data property. Would Mark's
suggestion be too radical a change? (note: I'm not arguing for this
change on the grounds of "it's too awkward to emulate using proxies".
I'm arguing on the grounds of "ES5 accessor properties seem to better
describe the behavior of a dynamic property such as array |length|").
In arrays, "length" affect numerical properties, but the opposite is
also true. Should all numerical properties be considered as accessors
then? (there is a little bit of bad faith here, because a valid
implementation is possible with just "length" being an accessor. See [1]).
Considering "length" as a data or accessor property is a secondary
question in my opinion. The "magic" behavior is not at the property
level but at the object level (even though it can be emulated at the
property level).
The question raised by Mark is: "should objects with noticeable custom
internal method (array, host objects, proxies...) be allowed to prentend
having data property even if some logic is triggered under the hood?".
If they are not, then, the notion of "data descriptor" does not make
sense in the context of proxies because anytime a proxy could trigger
any code.
Should data property descriptor be entirely banned from proxies (and
host objects)?
There is a cursor to put between data and accessor properties. My
opinion is that an accessor property should be used when it has a side
effect *outside the object scope*. For instance, document.cookie should
be an accessor, because it affects something else than the document
object (namely other tabs if these send requests to the same domain).
Same for element.innerHTML which triggers a reflow. However,
array.length doesn't have any observable effect outside of the object
it's being used on.
I am fully aware that the first flaw of this definition is that there is
no way to enforce it in a program (especially not in
getOwnPropertyDescriptor proxy traps return value). However, this
separation may be a guideline for the spec purpose.
What are your thoughts on this separation?
David
[1]
http://perfectionkills.com/how-ecmascript-5-still-does-not-allow-to-subclass-an-array/#ecmascript_5_accessors_to_the_rescue
_______________________________________________
es-discuss mailing list
[email protected]
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es-discuss
