[swift-evolution] [Review] SE-0081: Move where clause to end of declaration

[Jon Shier]

> * What is your evaluation of the proposal?

-1

No one has been able to explain how this change improves readability, it just seems like it’s supposed to be self evident. I would argue that it makes the generic definitions less readable by separating declarations and their relevant where clauses. At best this change just moves the already unreadable mass of text elsewhere, where it’s still unreadable. Furthermore, it trades this supposed readability of generic parameters for decreased readability of the actual function signature, since that signature’s now buried between the generic definitions and the where clauses. This is especially bad when declaring a single generic type that can easily fit on a single line, such as:

func something<T: Decodable where T == T.DecodedType>(with something: T) -> String 

turns into this, which is less readable to me, as it hides important information between the generic information:

func something<T: Decodable>(with something: T) -> String where T == T.DecodedType

Also, this proposal doesn’t explain how the definitions for generic types would change. Using the proposed grammar would be even worse on types. From:

final class NetworkOperation<T: Decodable where T == T.DecodedType>: Operation,… {

to:

final class NetworkOperation<T: Decodable>: Operation,… where T == T.DecodedType {

The additional conformances types can have make this an especially bad use case for this proposal. 

> 	* Is the problem being addressed significant enough to warrant a change to Swift?

It can be a problem, but I don’t see how this proposal fixes it. Appropriate code styling, whether manual or provided by an IDE, could provide much better readability than this proposal ever could.

> 	* Does this proposal fit well with the feel and direction of Swift?

Changes proposed for “readability” need to be closely scrutinized, as one programmer’s readable and another’s Perl. I don’t think this proposal meets the high standard this list has tried to set for things to the language.

> 	* If you have used other languages or libraries with a similar feature, how do you feel that this proposal compares to those?

Java and C++’s generics, which are rather different. And despite what they may have intended, I don’t think generics in either language are used as much as in Swift.

> 	* How much effort did you put into your review? A glance, a quick reading, or an in-depth study?

Read the proposal, the thread thus far, and considered my response.



Jon

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