[swift-evolution] [Discussion] Replacing Equal Signs with Colons For Attribute Arguments

[Haravikk]

I’m a +1 for this; it’s a simple change with no side-effects, and consistency is a good thing!

On 16 Feb 2016, at 22:42, Erica Sadun via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:
> 
> Thoughts and feedback appreciated. Thank you, -- Erica
> 
> 
> 
> Replacing Equal Signs with Colons For Attribute Arguments
> 
> Proposal: TBD
> Author(s): Erica Sadun <http://github.com/erica>
> Status: TBD
> Review manager: TBD
>  <https://gist.github.com/erica/d96011a5c22d9b995b91#introduction>Introduction
> 
> Attribute arguments are unlike other Swift language arguments. At the call site, they use = instead of colons to distinguish argument names from passed values. This proposal brings attributes into compliance with Swift standard practices by replacing the use of "=" with ":" in this one-off case.
> 
> Discussion took place on the Swift Evolution mailing list in the [Discussion] Replacing Equal Signs with Colons For Attribute Arguments thread. Thanks to Doug Gregor <https://github.com/DougGregor> for suggesting this enhancement.
> 
>  <https://gist.github.com/erica/d96011a5c22d9b995b91#motivation>Motivation
> 
> Attributes enable developers to annotate declarations and types with keywords that constrain behavior. Recognizable by their at-sign <http://foldoc.org/strudel> "@" prefix, attributes communicate features, characteristics, restrictions, and expectations of types and declarations to the Swift compiler. Common attributes include @noescape for parameters that cannot outlive the lifetime of a call, @convention, to indicates whether a type's calling conventions follows a Swift, C, or (Objective-C) block model, and @available to enumerate a declaration's compatibility with platform and OS versions. Swift currently offers about a dozen distinct attributes, and is likely to expand this vocabulary in future language updates.
> 
> Some attributes accept arguments: @attribute-name(attribute-arguments) including @available and @warn_unused_result. In the current grammar, an equal sign separates attribute argument keywords from values:
> 
> introduced=version-number
> deprecated=version-number
> obsoleted=version-number
> message=message
> renamed=new-name
> mutable_variant=method-name
> Using = is out of step with other Swift parameterization call-site patterns. Tweaking the grammar to match the rest of Swift introduces a small change that adds consistency across the language.
> 
> parameter name: parameter value
>  <https://gist.github.com/erica/d96011a5c22d9b995b91#detail-design>Detail Design
> 
> This proposal replaces the use of = with : in the balanced tokens used to compose an attribute argument clause along the following lines:
> 
> attribute → @ attribute-name attribute-argument-clause<sub>opt</sub>
> attribute-name → identifier
> attribute-argument-clause → ( balanced-tokens<sub>opt<opt> )
> balanced-tokens → balanced-token
> balanced-tokens → balanced-token, balanced-tokens
> balanced-token → attribute-argument-label : attribute argument-value
> This design can be summarized as "wherever current Swift attributes use =, use : instead".
> 
>  <https://gist.github.com/erica/d96011a5c22d9b995b91#alternatives-considered>Alternatives Considered
> 
> There are no alternatives to put forth other than not accepting this proposal.
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