[swift-evolution] [Proposal][Discussion] Qualified Imports

[Pyry Jahkola]

> On 21 Jul 2016, at 09:51, Robert Widmann via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:
> 
>> On Jul 20, 2016, at 9:37 PM, Félix Cloutier via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> The problem is that by specifying "import Foo using (Baz)", I get nothing else from Foo. If I only want to exclude one conflicting name, I would have:
>> 
>>> import Foo
>>> import Bar hiding (Baz)
>> 
>> In case of a conflict, my "internal monologue" is more like "take Baz from Foo" than "don't take Baz from Bar".
>> 
> 
> How else would you resolve an ambiguity than by selecting the appropriate declaration and hiding the others?  Swift’s semantic analysis cannot read your mind, and neither can your (or mine) proposal for renaming syntax - in that you still have to import both modules either way.  You may as well be explicit about which name you’re actually using and which ones you’re actually hiding, eh?

Simple! You don't need to hide the others if we enforce a rule that explicitly mentioning one in the current file imports that name as a fileprivate identifier which shadows the ones not explicitly mentioned:

    import A using (X)
    import B // also exports X which gets shadowed by A.X
    import C // also exports X which gets shadowed by A.X

    assert(X.self == A.X.self)
    assert(X.self != B.X.self)
    assert(X.self != C.X.self)
    
    import D using (X)
    // error: invalid redeclaration of 'X'
    // note: previously declared here: 'import A using (X)'
    
    typealias X = Int
    // error: invalid redeclaration of 'X'
    // note: previously declared here: 'import A using (X)'

That would go nicely hand-in-hand with the idea that explicitly importing a module with a qualified name brings in the name of that module to the current file's scope:

    import A      // ok, unqualified import keeps A as a second-class identifier
    import B as B // ok, qualified import makes B a first-class identifier in file scope
    
    typealias A = Int // ok, shadows the module name A
    
    typealias B = Int
    // error: invalid redeclaration of 'Bar'
    // note: previously declared here: 'import Bar as Bar'

Couldn't we find a synthesis with both the explicit qualification of modules and the explicit selection of imported names? I would strongly support that.

— Pyry

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