> On Dec 4, 2017, at 1:42 AM, Vincent Esche via swift-evolution 
> <swift-evolution@swift.org> wrote:
> 
> I think the argument basically is "let's not add another footgun" (because 
> the design of Swift , for example regarding null handling, is to have less 
> footguns than other languages). The fact that there are footguns in swift 
> isn't an argument for adding new ones.
> 
> Couldn’t have said it better. This is what it all boils down to.


This is not a “footgun” in the traditional sense, because it does not affect 
someone who does not actively use it.  It is not like UB in C.

The strongest your argument can be is “someone could use dynamic member lookup 
in their API to produce an API with a footgun that hurts their users”.  I 
submit for your consideration that there are lots and lots of ways that people 
can create poor APIs that hurt users.  If someone uses this feature 
inappropriately, then their API is crappy and you shouldn’t use it, just like 
any other misuse of languages features.  

I also haven’t seen demonstration of an example where someone would 
non-maliciously [1] use it in an API, where it would cause harm, and what kind 
of harm that would be.  You are creating a boogieman without taking any effort 
to explain the problem, so there is no way to do a cost benefit tradeoff 
analysis of whether the “benefit” of this feature is worth the “cost” that you 
claim exists. 

I have said everything I intend to say about this topic.

-Chris

[1] Obviously if the API you are using was maliciously crafted, then you have 
tons of other problems.  

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