[swift-evolution] [proposal] Allow function argument type to be omitted when passing a default value from which it can be inferred

[Vladimir.S]

Inline

On 11.05.2016 16:03, Haravikk wrote:
>
>> On 11 May 2016, at 13:49, Vladimir.S via swift-evolution
>> <swift-evolution at swift.org <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>> wrote:
>>
>> public var a = 10 // OK, all is clear here
>> public var a = "sdfsdf" // OK
>> public var a = someFunction() // not OK - add type of `a` explicitly
>
> I’m not clear on why you think the third one isn’t okay; Xcode can tell you
> what the type was inferred to be, you can check the function signature (alt
> - click the name) which will tell the type that it returns, as well as call
> up any documentation about what it does.

Well.. First of all Swift != XCode, and the OSX is not the only system 
where Swift is used ;-)

Yes, XCode can help a lot - should we design the language with XCode help 
in mind? I think we should not even think about XCode when discussing Swift 
features.

Second, we were discussing type inference for default parameters. I said 
that if we have this type inference in property - IMO there is no reason to 
not allow the same for default parameters. I.e. you can also use XCode to 
check the type of default parameter.

BUT personally I prefer to not allow type inference for properties if the 
assigned value is not 'simple' raw value like 10, 1.5, "sdfsdf" or probably 
explicit type constructor(like MyEnum.someCase; can be discussed)

>
> The only reason you would need to set a type on the property is if you know
> you’ll need to assign something less specific in future, e.g- a parent type
> in a class hierarchy.

I was replying to Chris Lattner's "We have a pretty strict rule here: types 
are allowed to be inferred in implementations, but not interfaces"
IMO we already has type inference in interfaces, this is why IMO Swift can 
have type inference in default parameters.

The reason you want to have explicit type declaration - is clarity and 
explicitness of the code, when you understand *interface* of type just by 
reading it. Not always Swift code will be reviewed in XCode and you can 
click the function to read its result type.