<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Dec 26, 2015, at 11:22 PM, Douglas Gregor via swift-evolution <<a href="mailto:swift-evolution@swift.org" class="">swift-evolution@swift.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi all,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here’s a proposal draft to allow one to name any function in Swift. In effect, it’s continuing the discussion of retrieving getters and setters as functions started by Michael Henson here:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><a href="https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/Week-of-Mon-20151207/002168.html" class="">https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/Week-of-Mon-20151207/002168.html</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">the proposal follows, and is available here as well:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/generalized-naming/proposals/0000-generalized-naming.md" class="">https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/generalized-naming/proposals/0000-generalized-naming.md</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Comments appreciated!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 2.25em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.3em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px !important;" class="">Generalized Naming for Any Function</h1><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2em; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Proposal: <a href="https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/0000-generalized-naming.md" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">SE-NNNN</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Author(s): <a href="https://github.com/DougGregor" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">Doug Gregor</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Status: <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Awaiting Review</strong></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Review manager: TBD</li></ul><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 16px; line-height: 1.225; font-size: 1.75em; padding-bottom: 0.3em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a id="user-content-introduction" class="anchor" href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/generalized-naming/proposals/0000-generalized-naming.md#introduction" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><span class="octicon octicon-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1; font-family: octicons; display: inline-block; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-user-select: none; vertical-align: middle; visibility: hidden;"></span></a>Introduction</h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Swift includes support for first-class functions, such that any function (or method) can be placed into a value of function type. However, it is not possible to specifically name every function that is part of a Swift program---one cannot provide the argument labels when naming a function, nor are property and subscript getters and setters referenceable. This proposal introduces a general syntax that allows one to name anything that is a function within Swift in an extensible manner.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Swift-evolution thread: Michael Henson started a thread about the getter/setter issue <a href="https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/Week-of-Mon-20151207/002168.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">here</a>, continued <a href="https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/Week-of-Mon-20151214/002203.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">here</a>. See the <a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/generalized-naming/proposals/0000-generalized-naming.md#alternatives-considered" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">Alternatives considered</a> section for commentary on that discussion.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 16px; line-height: 1.225; font-size: 1.75em; padding-bottom: 0.3em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a id="user-content-motivation" class="anchor" href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/generalized-naming/proposals/0000-generalized-naming.md#motivation" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><span class="octicon octicon-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1; font-family: octicons; display: inline-block; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-user-select: none; vertical-align: middle; visibility: hidden;"></span></a>Motivation</h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">It's fairly common in Swift for multiple functions or methods to have the same "base name", but be distinguished by parameter labels. For example, <code style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.2em 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0392157); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">UIView</code> has three methods with the same base name <code style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.2em 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0392157); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">insertSubview</code>:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">extension</span> UIView {
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">func</span> <span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">insertSubview</span>(view: UIView, at <span class="pl-smi" style="box-sizing: border-box;">index</span>: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Int</span>)
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">func</span> <span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">insertSubview</span>(view: UIView, aboveSubview <span class="pl-smi" style="box-sizing: border-box;">siblingSubview</span>: UIView)
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">func</span> <span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">insertSubview</span>(view: UIView, belowSubview <span class="pl-smi" style="box-sizing: border-box;">siblingSubview</span>: UIView)
}</pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">When calling these methods, the argument labels distinguish the different methods, e.g.,</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class="">someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview(view, at: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">3</span>)
someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview(view, aboveSubview: otherView)
someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview(view, belowSubview: otherView)</pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">However, when referencing the function to create a function value, one cannot provide the labels:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// ambiguous: could be any of the three methods</span></pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">In some cases, it is possible to use type annotations to disambiguate:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn: (UIView, <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Int</span>) <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// ok: uses insertSubview(_:at:)</span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn: (UIView, UIView) <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// error: still ambiguous!</span></pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">To resolve the latter case, one must fall back to creating a closure:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn: (UIView, UIView) <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> { view, otherView <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">in</span>
button<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview(view, otherView)
}</pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">which is painfully tedious. A similar workaround is required to produce a function value for a getter of a property, e.g.,</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">extension</span> UIButton {
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">var</span> currentTitle: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">String</span>? { <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span> }
}
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">var</span> fn: () <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">-></span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">String</span>? <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> { () <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">in</span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">return</span> button<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>currentTitle
}</pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">One additional bit of motivation: Swift should probably get some way to ask for the Objective-C selector for a given method (rather than writing a string literal). The argument to such an operation would likely be a reference to a method, which would benefit from being able to name any method, including getters and setters.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 16px; line-height: 1.225; font-size: 1.75em; padding-bottom: 0.3em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a id="user-content-proposed-solution" class="anchor" href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/generalized-naming/proposals/0000-generalized-naming.md#proposed-solution" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><span class="octicon octicon-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1; font-family: octicons; display: inline-block; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-user-select: none; vertical-align: middle; visibility: hidden;"></span></a>Proposed solution</h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Swift currently has a back-tick escaping syntax that lets one use keywords for names, which would otherwise fail to parse. For example,</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">func</span> <span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">`try`</span>() <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">-></span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Bool</span> { <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span> }</pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">declares a function named <code style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.2em 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0392157); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">try</code>, even though <code style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.2em 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0392157); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">try</code> is a keyword. I propose to extend the back-tick syntax to allow compound Swift names (e.g., <code style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.2em 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0392157); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">insertSubview(_:aboveSubview:)</code>) and references to the accessors of properties (e.g., the getter for <code style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.2em 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0392157); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">currentTitle</code>). Specifically,</p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2em; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px;" class="">Compound names can be written entirely within the back-ticks, e.g.,</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px;"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`insertSubview(_:at:)`
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn1 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`insertSubview(_:aboveSubview:)`</pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px;" class="">The same syntax can also refer to initializers, e.g.,</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px;"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> buttonFactory <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> UIButton<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">init</span>(type:)`</pre></div></li></ul></div></div></div></blockquote>This part seems reasonable to me.<br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2em; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px;" class="">Getters and setters can be written using dotted syntax within the back-ticks:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px;"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> specificTitle <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> button<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`currentTitle<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">get</span>` <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// has type () -> String?</span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> otherTitle <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> UIButton<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`currentTitle<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">get</span>` <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// has type (UIButton) -> () -> String?</span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> setTintColor <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> button<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`tintColor<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">set</span>` <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// has type (UIColor!) -> ()</span></pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px;" class="">The same syntax works with subscript getters and setters as well, using the full name of the subscript:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px;"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">extension</span> Matrix {
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">subscript</span> (row row: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Int</span>) <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">-></span> [<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Double</span>] {
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">get</span> { <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span> }
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">set</span> { <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span> }
}
}
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> getRow <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someMatrix<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">subscript</span>(row:)<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">get</span>` <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// has type (Int) -> () -> [Double]</span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> setRow <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someMatrix<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>`<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">subscript</span>(row:)<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">set</span>` <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// has type (Int) -> ([Double]) -> ()</span></pre></div></li></ul></div></div></div></blockquote><div>At least as far as pure Swift is concerned, for unapplied access, like `UIButton.currentTitle`, I think it would be more consistent with the way method references works for that to give you the getter (or lens) without decoration. instance.instanceMethod has type Args -> Ret, and Type.instanceMethod has type Self -> Args -> Ret; by analogy, since instance.instanceProperty has type Ret or inout Ret, it's reasonable to expect Type.instanceProperty to have type Self -> [inout] Ret. Forming a getter or setter partially applied to an instance feels unmotivated to me—{ button.currentTitle } or { button.currentTitle = $0 } already work, and are arguably clearer than this syntax.</div><div><br class=""></div><div>I acknowledge that this leaves forming selectors from setters out to dry, but I feel like that's something that could be incorporated into a "lens" design along with typed selectors. As a rough sketch, we could say that the representation of @convention(selector) T -> inout U is a pair of getter/setter selectors, and provide API on Selector to grab the individual selectors from that, maybe Selector(getterFor: UIView.currentTitle)/(setterFor: UIView.currentTitle). I don't think get/set is a good interface for working with Swift properties, so I don't like the idea of building in language support to codify it beyond what's needed for ObjC interaction.</div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2em; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0px !important;" class=""><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px;" class="">Can we drop the back-ticks? It's very tempting to want to drop the back-ticks entirely, because something like</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px;"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> someView<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>insertSubview(_:at:)</pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px;" class="">can be correctly parsed as a reference to <code style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.2em 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0392157); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">insertSubview(_:at:)</code>. However, it breaks down at the margins, e.g., with getter/setter references or no-argument functions:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px;"><pre style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: auto; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; padding: 16px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; word-wrap: normal; word-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">extension</span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Optional</span> {
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">func</span> <span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">get</span>() <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">-></span> T { <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">return</span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">self</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">!</span> }
}
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn1 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> button<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>currentTitle<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">get</span> <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// getter or Optional<String>.get?</span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> fn2 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">set</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>removeAllElements() <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// call or reference?</span></pre></div></li></ul></div></div></blockquote>From what I remember, the bigger concern with allowing foo(bar:bas:) without backticks is parser error recovery. The unambiguity with call syntax depends on having the `:)` token pair at the end. The edit distance between foo(bar:bas:) and a call foo(bar: bas) or work-in-progress call foo(bar: x, bas: ) is pretty slight, and would be tricky to give good diagnostics for. If we felt confident we could give good diagnostics, I'd support removing the backticks.</div><div><br class=""></div><div>-Joe</div><br class=""></body></html>