[swift-evolution] [discussion] compile-time execution and metaprogramming (was: "constexpr" for Swift 5)

[Tino Heth]

This is a very huge topic, but I can't fight the feeling that the final goal of the concept has mostly been ignored so far — maybe it's to exotic compared to macros:
I don't know a single language that has adopted such features (except, of course, Lisp ;-) — but I guess it didn't adopt anything, it's just possible to do lots of crazy things with it ;-).
None the less, I think the concept is fascinating, and I hope it gains traction.

If it does, I predict the ML isn't structured enough to bring the topic forward, and there's no such thing as "sub-mailinglists" yet. I don't know if Discourse would help here, but I also don't know if the switch will ever happen, so maybe we could create a wiki-page* to collect thoughts?

- Tino

* it's rather easy, but to be honest, my experience is that it doesn't work out :-(
Maybe big topics like this (multithreading would be another one) aren't suited to be shaped by the whole "community" — but let's wait, one or two statements from Core may be enough to fuel attention ;-).