[swift-evolution] [Pitch] Retiring `where` from for-in loops

[Xiaodi Wu]

On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 2:50 PM, Thorsten Seitz <tseitz42 at icloud.com> wrote:

>
>
> Am 10.06.2016 um 17:22 schrieb Erica Sadun via swift-evolution <
> swift-evolution at swift.org>:
>
>
> On Jun 10, 2016, at 8:02 AM, Xiaodi Wu via swift-evolution <
> swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Jun 10, 2016 at 7:18 AM, Haravikk <swift-evolution at haravikk.me>
> wrote:
>
>> * The word "where" does not consistently imply `break` or `continue`. In
>> current Swift, `where` implies `break` in the context of a `while` loop and
>> `continue` in the context of a `for` loop. Some users intuitively guess the
>> correct meaning in each context, while others guess the wrong meaning.
>> Therefore, the only way to learn for sure what `where` means in any context
>> is to read the rulebook. That, by definition, means that this is
>> unintuitive.
>>
>>
>> This is an argument for renaming the where keyword on for loops to be
>> more clear, or to somehow integrate continue/break to be more explicit
>> about what the developer intends for it to do.
>>
>
> Sure: I conclude that the keyword should be *either* removed *or*
> reformed; both outcomes could address the issue.
>
>
> This is my stance as well and I reserve the right to flit between both
> choices until we've fully talked it through.
>
> One more data point.
>
> In the standard library there are just under 950 uses of "for in loops".
> There are 3 uses of "for in while" :
>
>
> How many of the 950 "for in loops" use a guard with continue? Only these
> can be compard with the "for in where loops".
>

That is a different argument, I think, from the one Erica is making. The
data you're asking about would answer the question, "How often do stdlib
authors prefer `guard` over `where`?" That is an interesting question,
certainly.

I think Erica's point is that what Vladimir earlier called the "simple,
common" case may be simple but isn't actually common. I did a quick GitHub
search earlier today (and the tools aren't there, afaik, for an accurate
regexp search), but what I noticed on a random, not-statistically-sound
sampling was that uses of `continue` and `break`, when they do occur inside
a for loop (which isn't always), actually tend to happen after some work
has been done at the top of the loop. These wouldn't be replaceable by a
`where` clause. Moreover, I noticed an appreciable share of `return` and
`fatalError()` calls from inside the loop, which surprised me; I had
assumed I'd find mostly `break` or `continue`, but even when I did find
those it was as likely as not to be accompanied by logging. These again
preclude refactoring into `where`.


>
> -Thorsten
>
>
> private/StdlibUnittest/StdlibUnittest.swift.gyb:    for j in
> instances.indices where i != j {
> public/core/Algorithm.swift:  for value in rest where value < minValue {
> public/core/Algorithm.swift:  for value in rest where value >= maxValue {
>
> -- Erica
>
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