[swift-evolution] [Pitch] Typed throws

[Dave Abrahams]

on Mon Feb 27 2017, Matthew Johnson <matthew-AT-anandabits.com> wrote:

>> On Feb 27, 2017, at 4:20 PM, Dave Abrahams <dabrahams at apple.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> I'm sorry, I don't see any substantive difference, based on what you've
>> written here, between this feature and const.
>
> Let me give it one more shot and then I’ll drop it.  :)
>
> Const is viral because if an API does not declare its arguments const
> it cannot be used by a caller who has a const argument.  

Unless the caller casts away const, thus erasing information that was
previously encoded in the type system.

> It is required in order to make an API as generally useful as
> possible.
>
> Typed errors are not viral in this way because no callers are
> prevented from calling an API regardless of whether it declares error
> types or just throws Error like we have today.  

Unless the caller can recover (which is *very* rare) or it catches and
rethrows one of the errors *it* declares, thus erasing information that
was previously encoded in the type system.

> Pressure to declare error types in your signature in order to make
> your function as generally useful as possible does not exist.  Each
> function is free to declare error types or not according to the
> contract it wishes to expose.
>
> An argument can be made that community expectations might develop that
> good APIs should declare error types and they could be considered
> viral in this sense because any API that is simply declared `throws`
> is dropping type information.  But I think this overstates the case.
> The community appears to be very sensitive to the problems that can
> arise when error types are too concrete, especially across module
> boundaries.  I think we can learn to use the tool where it works well
> and to avoid it where it causes problems.
>
>> 
>> -- 
>> -Dave
>

-- 
-Dave