[swift-evolution] Proposal: typealias support protocol constraint

[Matthew Johnson]

This request isn’t really about typealias at all.  It has two elements.

First, it’s about the ability to bind Self and / or associated types in a protocol and use the result as a type.  This is highly desirable and is similar to features in the ML module system.

First is the ability to use a protocol with self or associated types as a type, not just a generic constraint:

protocol<CollectionType where CollectionType.Generator.Element == CGPoint>

I don’t think the `T:` label is necessary here as the protocol name serves as a good identifier in this context.  Although the protocol name could probably be omitted when there is only one protocol here as it is implicit:

protocol<CollectionType where Generator.Element == CGPoint>

The general form of this would look like:

protocol<P1, P2, P3 where *list of constraints*>

In this case the protocol name would be required, at least when more than one protocol in the list have an associated type with the same name (and possibly in all cases).  The list of constraints could identify associated types, bind them to concrete types, constrain Self to a specific superclass, etc.  The Self constraint might look like this:

protocol<P1, P2, P3 where Self: UIViewController>

Ideally we would not need to bind all associated types in the protocol in order to use it at a type, but would only be allowed to use members that do not mention the unbound associated type in their signature.

Once we have the ability to bind associated types and use the result as a type, the typealias use falls out automatically.

Second, it’s about the ability to extend a typealias where some generic constraints are specified in the typealias.  This would allow us to re-use the binding of generic constraints, but could be confusing if the extension is far removed in source from the typealias.  I’m not sure how I feel about this part of the proposal.

Matthew

> On Dec 6, 2015, at 4:28 AM, Adrian Kashivskyy via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:
> 
> I believe this could be achieved using generic typealiases, proposed here: https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/2015-December/000132.html <https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/2015-December/000132.html>
> 
> Pozdrawiam – Regards,
> Adrian Kashivskyy
> 
>> Wiadomość napisana przez QQ Mail via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>> w dniu 06.12.2015, o godz. 08:17:
>> 
>> If typealias support protocol constraint, I think we can reuse a lot of code, also more readable
>> 
>> For Example: 
>> 
>> typealias PointCollection = protocol<T:CollectionType where T.Generator.Element == CGPoint>
>> 
>> public extension PointCollection {
>>     
>>     
>>     
>> }
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
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