[swift-evolution] [Proposal] Invert the order of pattern match operator

[David Owens II]

It would be nice to know the rationale behind the choice of the current syntax. I agree that these seem more natural:

@warn_unused_result
public func ~=<I : ForwardIndexType where I : Comparable>(value: I, pattern: Range<I>) -> Bool

@warn_unused_result
public func ~=<I : IntervalType>(value: I.Bound, pattern: I) -> Bool

I would not change from `~=` to `=~` though.

So you have this:

let x = 4

switch x {
case let v where x ~= 0...5: print("matched: \(v)")
default: print("nothing!!")
}

-David

> On Apr 7, 2016, at 4:57 AM, David Rodrigues via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Swift has a pattern match operator, ~=, which is unknown to many (like me until a few weeks ago), that performs a match between a value and a certain pattern, e.g. checking if an integer value is contained in a range of integers.
> 
> This operator may be little known, but it plays a key role in the language since it's used behind the scenes to support expression patterns in `switch` statement case labels, which we all know are extremely popular.
> 
> let point = (2, 4)
> switch point {
> case (0, 0):
>     print("The point is at the origin")
> case (0...4, 0...4):
>     print("The point is in the subregion")
> default:
>     break
> }
> 
> Most of the time we don't use the operator directly but it is available and can be handy in certain conditions.
> 
> let point = (2, 4)
> switch point {
> case (let x, let y) where 0...4 ~= x && 0...4 ~= y:
>     print("The point is in the subregion")
> default:
>     break
> }
> 
> However the current syntax is not ideal (in my opinion). We're not really declaring the operation that we want to do, and that has an impact in the expressivity and readability of the code. Currently we're doing matches like "if blue is the ocean" instead of "if the ocean is blue" or "if the ocean contains the whale" instead of "if the whale is in the ocean".
> 
> For that reason, I would like to suggest inverting the order of the operator to match more closely our logical thought.
> 
> case (let x, let y) where x =~ 0...4 && y =~ 0...4: // Proposed
> // vs
> case (let x, let y) where 0...4 ~= x && 0...4 ~= y: // Current
> 
> I have an ongoing proposal to suggest this change and it contains a little more context. It is available here: 
> 
> https://github.com/dmcrodrigues/swift-evolution/blob/proposal/invert-order-of-pattern-match-operator/proposals/NNNN-invert-order-of-pattern-match-operator.md <https://github.com/dmcrodrigues/swift-evolution/blob/proposal/invert-order-of-pattern-match-operator/proposals/NNNN-invert-order-of-pattern-match-operator.md>.
> 
> Any feedback is very welcome.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> David Rodrigues
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