[swift-evolution] Implicit Type Conversion For Numerics Where Possible.

[Developer]

What you describe, all those cases where one fixes losing precision by simply "ignoring it", that's part of why I'm hesitant about simply throwing in C-like promotion rules into any language.  Once you add implicit type coercions, even just between integer or floating point types, your language gains a hundred unspoken rules and little guard rails you have to cling to lest you slip and hit the next pitfall.  Though you may be dismissive of information loss, it is a serious issue in coercions, and one with implications that are never completely grokked by experts and serve as yet another hindrance to novices trying to adopt the language. 

So, I don't think coercion under this scheme is the complete end-all-be-all solution to this problem, [though it may certainly feel right].  Sure, it is always defined behavior to "downcast" a value of a lower bitwidth to one of a higher bitwidth, but to dismiss Int -> Float, Float -> Int, and Double -> Float, etc. coercions as mere trifles is an attitude I don't want enshrined in the language's type system.

Perhaps there is a middle ground.  Say, one could declare conformance to a special kind of protocol declaring safe implicit convertibility (see: Idris' solution of having an `implicit` conversion mechanism). Or perhaps a good first step may be to not deal with information loss at all, and only keep the parts of this proposal that are always defined behavior.

~Robert Widmann

2016/03/30 8:01、Ted F.A. van Gaalen via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org> のメッセージ:

> Currently, one has to deal with explicit conversion between numerical types,
> which in many cases is unnecessary and costing time to code 
> for things that are quite obvious,
> and cluttering the source, making it less readable.
> 
> Especially dealing all the time with often unavoidable intermixing 
> of floating point types CGFloat, Float, and Double 
> is really very annoying. 
> 
> Conversion beween floating point types is always harmless as 
> floating point types are essentially the same. 
> They differ only in precision.
> 
> Therefore, I would recommend allowing the following implicit type conversions:
> 
> -between all floating point types e.g. Double, Float, CGFloat  
> 
> -from any integer type to floating point types
> 
> -Also, personally, I wouldn’t mind assigning from a float to a (signed) integer
> because I know what I am doing: that the fraction is lost 
> and that assigning a too large float to an Integer would then cause 
> a run time error, which I can try/catch, of course. 
> 
> -from unsigned integer to signed integer   
> (nothing is lost here, but overflow should cause a run time error) 
> 
> but no implicit conversion for:
> - from integer to unsigned integer   (loosing sign here)
> - from a larger integer type to a smaller one e.g.   Int32 <- Int64   (truncation)  
> 
> Note however, that the compiler should issue warnings 
> when you do implicit conversions, but these warnings 
> are for most programmers of the “Yeah I know, don’t bug me.”
> type, so one should be able to switch off these type of warnings.
> 
> Even a programmer with little experience simply knows 
> that bringing integers into the floating point domain 
> causes precision loss. 
> He/she also knows that assigning a Double to a smaller floating
> point type also cause precision loss.  
> the reverse is not true.
> 
> 
> Very much interested in your opinion!
> 
> ----
> N.B. the above does not yet include 
> the fixed decimal numerical type as this type is not yet
> available in Swift.  However, it should be  implemented 
> *as soon as possible*  because the fixed decimal type 
> is really needed for applications working with financial data!
> E.g. 
> var depositPromille: Decimal(10,3)
> typealias  Money = Decimal(20,2) 
>   
> For more info on how this could be implemented
> in Swift. please read a PL/1 manual, ( i grew up in this world)
> like this one: 
> 
> http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/#!/SSY2V3_4.3.0/com.ibm.entpli.doc_4.3/lr/preface_plugin.htm
> 
> especially under sub-topic “Data elements” 
> 
> (however, don’t take everything for granted, PL/1 is still a very young language :o) 
> Unfortunately OOP never made it into PL/1 because with it, it would be nearly perfect.)
> 
> Should I make a new swift-evolution topic for fixed decimal?
> 
> Kind Regards
> TedvG
> 
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