[swift-evolution] Add a while clause to for loops

Xiaodi Wu xiaodi.wu at gmail.com
Tue Jun 7 12:12:41 CDT 2016


filter() is and prefix(while:) will be available on all sequences. The
for...in loop only traverses through sequences.

The meaning of the proposed while is not at all a pair for where, since
where clauses in while loops would do the same thing as while clauses in
for loops. That's crazy.

On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 06:20 Vladimir.S via swift-evolution <
swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:

> My +1 to the proposal and for Charlie's opinion. I believe `while` in `for`
> loop would be very handy and helpful in some situations, it is a pair for
> existed `where`, its meaning is obvious, and its existence can't depend on
> existence of any method in collections. I'd like to see a formal proposal
> for this feature.
>
> On 07.06.2016 8:18, Charlie Monroe via swift-evolution wrote:
> > I strongly disagree.
> >
> > Exchanging
> >
> > for result in results where result.value != .Warning while result.value
> !=
> > .Error {
> > /// ...
> > }
> >
> > for either
> >
> > for result in results.filter({ $0.value != .Warning }).prefix(while: {
> > $0.value != .Error })) {
> > /// ...
> > }
> >
> > or
> >
> > for result in results {
> > if result.value == .Warning { continue }
> > if result.value == .Error { break }
> >
> > /// ...
> > }
> >
> > Seems like an absolute step back. Not to mention filter(_:) doesn't
> return
> > a lazy collection, but will recreate it, while the `where` will do
> > on-the-fly check.
> >
> >> On Jun 7, 2016, at 1:34 AM, Xiaodi Wu via swift-evolution
> >> <swift-evolution at swift.org <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>> wrote:
> >>
> >> Personally, given this discussion and the one about `where` in if and
> >> while statements, I would not be opposed to elimination of `where` in
> >> control statements altogether.
> >>
> >> My reasoning would be that words like filter and prefix unambiguously
> >> indicate what happens to elements of a sequence for which the predicate
> >> returns false, whereas words like where and while are ambiguous.
> >>
> >> On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 17:52 Tim Vermeulen <tvermeulen at me.com
> >> <mailto:tvermeulen at me.com>> wrote:
> >>
> >>     I didn’t mean we should really get rid of the `where` clause, it’s
> >>     great. I guess the point I was trying to make is that we can use a
> >>     `where` clause with a `for` loop in Swift, despite the existence of
> >>     the `filter` method. So despite `prefix(while:)` in Swift 3, there
> >>     might be room for a `while` clause. I think it makes the code a lot
> >>     more readable, much like how `where` can make a `for` loop a lot
> more
> >>     readable than using `filter`.
> >>
> >>     > The burden of proof for adding new features is different from that
> >>     for taking away existing features.
> >>     >
> >>     > If a feature doesn't yet exist, a successful proposal will show
> how
> >>     it provides additional and non-trivial utility. If a feature already
> >>     exists, a successful proposal to remove it will show how it is
> >>     harmful to the language or contrary to the direction in which it is
> >>     evolving.
> >>     >
> >>     > On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 15:38 Tim Vermeulen<tvermeulen at me.com
> >>     <mailto:tvermeulen at me.com>(mailto:tvermeulen at me.com
> >>     <mailto:tvermeulen at me.com>)>wrote:
> >>     > > The functionality of the `where` clause in `for` loops also
> >>     already can be mimicked using `filter`. Wouldn’t we have to get ride
> >>     of the `where` clause by that logic?
> >>     > >
> >>     > > >The functionality being asked for here is already accepted for
> >>     inclusion to Swift as a method on Sequence named `prefix(while:)`
> >>     (SE-0045):
> >>     > > >
> >>     > > >`for element in array.prefix(while: { someCondition($0) }) {
> ... }`
> >>     > > >On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 14:31 T.J. Usiyan via
> >>     swift-evolution<swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>(mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)>wrote:
> >>     > > >>(As I said, I can live with `while`. I am simply presenting a
> >>     potential point of confusion.)
> >>     > > >>You aren't evaluating the statements in the loop 'while' the
> >>     condition isn't met. The first time that the condition isn't met,
> >>     evaluation of the loop stops. I get that this is technically true
> for
> >>     the `while` construct but I suggest that the only reason that it
> >>     works there is that 'stopping the first time that the condition
> isn't
> >>     met' *is* the construct. Here, we have a loop that we execute for
> >>     each thing and we're tacking on/intermingling the `while` construct.
> >>     > > >>
> >>     > > >>
> >>     > > >>
> >>     > > >>On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 2:19 PM, Thorsten
> >>     Seitz<tseitz42 at icloud.com
> >>     <mailto:tseitz42 at icloud.com>(mailto:tseitz42 at icloud.com
> >>     <mailto:tseitz42 at icloud.com>)(mailto:tseitz42 at icloud.com
> >>     <mailto:tseitz42 at icloud.com>)>wrote:
> >>     > > >>>
> >>     > > >>>>Am 06.06.2016 um 19:43 schrieb Tim Vermeulen via
> >>     swift-evolution<swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>(mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)>:
> >>     > > >>>>
> >>     > > >>>>I also considered `until`, but it would be a bit confusing
> >>     that `where` makes sure a condition is met, while `until` makes sure
> >>     the condition isn’t met. I think `while` makes more sense because it
> >>     corresponds to `break` in the same way that `where` corresponds to
> >>     `continue`.
> >>     > > >>>
> >>     > > >>>That's a good argument! The only drawback is that `while` and
> >>     `where` look quite similar at a glance.
> >>     > > >>>
> >>     > > >>>-Thorsten
> >>     > > >>>
> >>     > > >>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>`while`, to me, actually reads like it should do what
> >>     `where` does.
> >>     > > >>>>
> >>     > > >>>>To me, `while` reads like it should stop the loop once the
> >>     condition isn’t met, just like in a while loop.
> >>     > > >>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>I hadn't thought about `while` in this regard but wouldn't
> >>     `until` make more sense? `while`, to me, actually reads like it
> >>     should do what `where` does. In any case, whether it is `while` or
> >>     `where`, this seems like a reasonable feature in my opinion.
> >>     > > >>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>TJ
> >>     > > >>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 5:15 AM, Tim Vermeulen via
> >>     swift-evolution<swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>(mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)>wrote:
> >>     > > >>>>>>We can already use a where clause in a for loop like this:
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>for element in array where someCondition(element) {
> >>     > > >>>>>>// …
> >>     > > >>>>>>}
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>which basically acts like
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>for element in array {
> >>     > > >>>>>>guard someCondition(element) else { continue }
> >>     > > >>>>>>// …
> >>     > > >>>>>>}
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>Sometimes you want to break out of the loop when the
> >>     condition isn’t met instead. I propose a while clause:
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>for element in array while someCondition(element) {
> >>     > > >>>>>>// …
> >>     > > >>>>>>}
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>which would be syntactic sugar for
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>for element in array {
> >>     > > >>>>>>guard someCondition(element) else { break }
> >>     > > >>>>>>…
> >>     > > >>>>>>}
> >>     > > >>>>>>
> >>     > > >>>>>>I can see this particularly being useful if we have a
> >>     sorted array and we already know that once the condition isn’t met,
> >>     it won’t be met either for subsequent elements. Another use case
> >>     could be an infinite sequence that we want to cut off somewhere
> >>     (which is simply not possible using a where clause).
> >>     > > >>>>>>_______________________________________________
> >>     > > >>>>>>swift-evolution mailing list
> >>     > > >>>>>>swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>(mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)
> >>     > > >>>>>>https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-evolution
> >>     > > >>>>_______________________________________________
> >>     > > >>>>swift-evolution mailing list
> >>     > > >>>>swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>(mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)
> >>     > > >>>>https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-evolution
> >>     > > >>
> >>     > > >>_______________________________________________
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> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)(mailto:
> swift-evolution at swift.org
> >>     <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>)
> >>     > > >>https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-evolution
> >>     > > >
> >>     > > >
> >>     > > >_______________________________________________
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> >>     >
> >>     >
> >>     >
> >>
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