[swift-evolution] [Review] SE-0089: Renaming String.init<T>(_: T)

[Philippe Hausler]

> On May 17, 2016, at 8:32 PM, Chris Lattner via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Swift community,
> 
> The review of "SE-0089: Renaming String.init<T>(_: T)" begins now and runs through May 23. The proposal is available here:
> 
> 	https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/0089-rename-string-reflection-init.md
> 
> Reviews are an important part of the Swift evolution process. All reviews should be sent to the swift-evolution mailing list at
> 
> 	https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-evolution
> 
> or, if you would like to keep your feedback private, directly to the review manager.
> 
> What goes into a review?
> 
> The goal of the review process is to improve the proposal under review through constructive criticism and contribute to the direction of Swift. When writing your review, here are some questions you might want to answer in your review:
> 
> 	* What is your evaluation of the proposal?

This method definitely has some strange behavior and I think it most certainly would benefit from a better name. `init<T>(printing value:<T>)` to me sounds like this is somehow printing the string, either to the console or to an arcane device called a “printer”. Personally I think that  `init<T>(describing value:<T>)` is more suitable as a name of an initializer.

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

Absolutely! It improves safety and clarity with little cost to developers

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

Most definitely

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

I have never run across this issue in another language/library. However I have previously attempted to avoid similar problems in C++ so I would definitely consider the standard of having good (and un-ambiguous names a strong benefit when it comes to potentially too generic methods)

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

I have personally run across bugs due to this in the wild and it definitely was unexpected and probably took me too long to recognize the reason on why it happened.

> 
> More information about the Swift evolution process is available at
> 
> 	https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/process.md
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> -Chris Lattner
> Review Manager
> 
> 
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