[swift-evolution] Proposal: Add .times method to Integer type

[Jacob Bandes-Storch]

This can be done pretty easily, although I think the approach has the
potential to cause confusion elsewhere in code. An obvious question is,
should it be equivalent to 1...n, or 0..<n?

extension Int: SequenceType {
    public func generate() -> RangeGenerator<Int> {
        return (0..<self).generate()
    }
}

for i in 5 {
    print("hello \(i)")
}

Jacob Bandes-Storch

On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 1:03 PM, Brent Royal-Gordon via swift-evolution <
swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:

> > I’d like to propose an addition of a useful method, especially for
> beginners that also makes Swift much more readable in some situations: The
> addition of a .times method to Integer type(s).
>
> I’ve said it before, but I don’t think `times` is a good solution for
> learners. It teaches them a form of looping they will never use in practice
> and does not allow them to practice with ancillary loop skills like `break`
> and `continue`.
>
> I think our best bet is to extend the `for` loop to allow a single number,
> meaning either `1…n` or `0..<n` (you can argue it either way), and also to
> allow the `variableName in` part to be omitted, meaning `_ in`. This gives
> us the pedagogical simplicity of a “do this N times” loop, but couches it
> in a form where, when the student moves on, more commonly used loop forms
> are a straightforward extension of that simple case.
>
>         for 5 { print(“Hello!”) }
>         for i in 5 { print(“Hello \(i)!”) }
>         for i in 10..<20 { print(“Hello \(i)!”) }
>         for i in 10...20 { print(“Hello \(i)!”) }
>
> --
> Brent Royal-Gordon
> Architechies
>
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