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

Hignite, Jamie Jamie.Hignite at kindred.com
Wed Jun 8 14:27:26 CDT 2016


+1 as well


Thanks!

Jamie


On 6/7/16, 7:20 AM, "swift-evolution-bounces at swift.org on behalf of
Vladimir.S via swift-evolution" <swift-evolution-bounces at swift.org on
behalf of 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 didn¹t mean we should really get rid of the `where` clause, it¹s
>>>     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`. Wouldn¹t 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 isn¹t 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 isn¹t 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) {
>>>     > > >>>>>>// Š
>>>     > > >>>>>>}
>>>     > > >>>>>>
>>>     > > >>>>>>which basically acts like
>>>     > > >>>>>>
>>>     > > >>>>>>for element in array {
>>>     > > >>>>>>guard someCondition(element) else { continue }
>>>     > > >>>>>>// Š
>>>     > > >>>>>>}
>>>     > > >>>>>>
>>>     > > >>>>>>Sometimes you want to break out of the loop when the
>>>     condition isn¹t met instead. I propose a while clause:
>>>     > > >>>>>>
>>>     > > >>>>>>for element in array while someCondition(element) {
>>>     > > >>>>>>// Š
>>>     > > >>>>>>}
>>>     > > >>>>>>
>>>     > > >>>>>>which would be syntactic sugar for
>>>     > > >>>>>>
>>>     > > >>>>>>for element in array {
>>>     > > >>>>>>guard someCondition(element) else { break }
>>>     > > >>>>>>Š
>>>     > > >>>>>>}
>>>     > > >>>>>>
>>>     > > >>>>>>I can see this particularly being useful if we have a
>>>     sorted array and we already know that once the condition isn¹t met,
>>>     it won¹t 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).
>>>     > > >>>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>     > > >>>>>>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
>>>     > > >>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>     > > >>>>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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>>
>>
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