[swift-evolution] Throws, rethrows and declaration-modifiers in function declarations

[James Froggatt]

Closures can throw too. The ability to throw is part of the function type. Keywords preceding ‘func’ relate to the method, as a ‘container’ entity for the function, rather than the function itself.

I agree the syntax is odd, the keyword should probably come after the arrow.

Relatedly, what happened to the follow up proposal to change @discardableResult to an @discardable annotation on the return type? As it is, closure properties can't have discardable results.

------------ Begin Message ------------ 
Group: gmane.comp.lang.swift.evolution 
MsgID: <1468950690.1969779.670846257.58EFBDA2 at webmail.messagingengine.com> 

Hello,

I'm currently reading the updated Swift 3 preview book, and was
wondering about the `throws` and `rethrows` keywords.

In a function declaration, all the keywords are at the beginning, except
for `throws` and `rethrows`, which are… oddly placed.

In the grammar:

```
*function-declaration *→ *function-head[1] ­function-name[2]­ **generic-parameter-clause[3]­*opt­*function-
signature[4]­ **function-body[5]­*opt­
*function-head *→ *attributes[6]­*opt­*declaration-
modifiers[7]­*opt­func­
*function-signature *→ *parameter-clause[8]­*throws­opt­*function-
result[9]­*opt­
*function-signature *→ *parameter-clause[10]­*rethrows­*function-
result[11]­*opt­
```
Is there a reason to have throws and rethrows at this specific position,
instead of declaration-modifiers?

ie.:

This:

```
func send() throws -> String {}
```

Becomes:

```
throwing func send() -> String {}
rethrowing func send() -> String {}
```

Like:

```
mutating func send() -> String {}
```

Or:

```
throw func send() -> String {}
rethrow func send() -> String {}
```

Like: 

```
override func send() -> String {}
```

(You can also see the weird difference between `override` and
`mutating`, one using the -ing suffix, the other being infinitive)

Am I missing something? I find that these keywords break the flow of the
function declaration, separating the parameters and the return type,
which is never done anywhere else.

Thanks.

--
Matthieu Oger
Pixelnest Studio[12]
 

Links:

  1. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/function-head
  2. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/function-name
  3. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/GenericParametersAndArguments.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/generic-parameter-clause
  4. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/function-signature
  5. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/function-body
  6. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Attributes.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/attributes
  7. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/declaration-modifiers
  8. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/parameter-clause
  9. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/function-result
  10. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/parameter-clause
  11. https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Declarations.html#//apple_ref/swift/grammar/function-result
  12. http://pixelnest.io/



------------- End Message ------------- 



From James F