[swift-evolution] Proposal: An assignment operator := that ensures nil before assignment.

[Howard Lovatt]

Sorry -1 from me. Not worth adding. Too few use cases.

On Sunday, 28 February 2016, Brent Royal-Gordon via swift-evolution <
swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:

> > Here’s a use case. Suppose you are filling out a dictionary in some
> non-trivial way. However, it should be the case that the value for each key
> is computed and assigned only once. And so you would use the := operator to
> ensure this: dictionary[k] := value
>
> This is actually a great use case, and it's exactly the kind of thing you
> should mention when you suggest a change to Swift.
>
> However, I think that specific use case is better served by a method on
> Dictionary. Perhaps something equivalent to:
>
>         mutating func initializeValue(value: Value, forKey key: Key) {
>                 let oldValue = updateValue(value, forKey: key)
>                 precondition(oldValue == nil, "Initialized \(key) when it
> was already set")
>         }
>
> Why do I think this approach is better?
>
> * `:=` doesn't really explain what it does—if you've never seen the
> operator before, the most you can be sure of is that it's probably some
> kind of assignment. `initializeValue(_:forKey:)` *does* explain the
> intended semantic—this should set a value for the first time—which suggests
> that it shouldn't be used with a value that's already set.
>
> * I would need to see compelling examples of `:=` used outside of
> Dictionaries before I thought it would be useful as something applied to
> any lvalue. Dictionary is an unusual case because they have a
> dynamically-determined set of keys which are created simply by assigning
> them, so it's reasonable to not know whether a particular key is `nil` or
> not. Swift variables and properties, and most Swift collections, separate
> adding a value from updating it, so they may not need an analogous
> operation.
>
> * By putting the precondition inside `initializeValue(_:forKey:)` itself,
> the error message can actually include the key, which may aid in debugging.
>
> --
> Brent Royal-Gordon
> Architechies
>
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>


-- 
-- Howard.
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