<div dir="ltr">Sounds good to me, much nicer than the current approach.<div><br></div><div>Perhaps it should be @selector() instead? I don't think you can currently get enough information from the type signature alone to differentiate one selector from another. This will probably have to introduce new syntax, it would require changes to the language not just a standard library function. @selector seems to differentiate it from standard structures and functions.</div><div><br></div><div>I also think the underscore should be removed, that's outside the scope of this proposal though?</div><div><br></div><div>I had concerns for this with Self and associated type requirements, however I don't think they're an issue unless Objective-C supports them, or this is to be used outside of Objective-C. For the same reasons I'm guessing there's no need for this to distinguish between selectors with different return types?</div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 12, 2016 at 8:08 AM, Douglas Gregor via swift-evolution <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:swift-evolution@swift.org" target="_blank">swift-evolution@swift.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word"><div>Here’s a follow-up to the idea I posted for a simple expression to produce the selector for a given method, revised based on the discussion there. The proposal is over at</div><div><br></div><div><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md" target="_blank">https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md</a></div><div><br></div><div><h1 style="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">Referencing the Objective-C selector of a method</h1><ul style="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)"><li>Proposal: <a href="https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/NNNN-objc-selectors.md" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">SE-NNNN</a></li><li>Author(s): <a href="https://github.com/DougGregor" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Doug Gregor</a></li><li>Status: <strong>Awaiting review</strong></li><li>Review manager: TBD</li></ul><h2 style="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)"><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md#introduction" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;padding-right:2px;line-height:1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:1;font-family:octicons;display:inline-block;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:middle"></span></a>Introduction</h2><p style="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)">In Swift 2, Objective-C selectors are written as string literals (e.g., <code style="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">"insertSubview:aboveSubview:"</code>) in the type context of a <code style="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">Selector</code>. This proposal seeks to replace this error-prone approach with <code style="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">Selector</code> initialization syntax that refers to a specific method via its Swift name.</p><p style="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)">Swift-evolution thread: <a href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.swift.evolution/1384/focus=1403" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">here</a></p><h2 style="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)"><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md#motivation" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;padding-right:2px;line-height:1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:1;font-family:octicons;display:inline-block;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:middle"></span></a>Motivation</h2><p style="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)">The use of string literals for selector names is extremely error-prone: there is no checking that the string is even a well-formed selector, much less that it refers to any known method, or a method of the intended class. Moreover, with the effort to perform <a href="https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/0005-objective-c-name-translation.md" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">automatic renaming of Objective-C APIs</a>, the link between Swift name and Objective-C selector is non-obvious. By providing explicit "create a selector" syntax based on the Swift name of a method, we eliminate the need for developers to reason about the actual Objective-C selectors being used.</p><h2 style="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)"><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md#proposed-solution" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;padding-right:2px;line-height:1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:1;font-family:octicons;display:inline-block;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:middle"></span></a>Proposed solution</h2><p style="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)">Introduce <code style="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">Selector</code> initialization syntax that allows one to build a selector from a reference to a method, e.g.,</p><div style="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="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">control<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">.</span>sendAction(Selector(MyApplication<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">.</span>doSomething), to: target, forEvent: event)</pre></div><p style="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)">where “doSomething” is a method of MyApplication, which might even have a completely-unrelated name in Objective-C:</p><div style="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="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"><span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">extension</span> MyApplication {
<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">@objc</span>(jumpUpAndDown:)
<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">func</span> <span style="color:rgb(121,93,163)">doSomething</span>(sender: <span style="color:rgb(0,134,179)">AnyObject</span>?) { … }
}</pre></div><p style="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)">By naming the Swift method and having the <code style="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">Selector</code> initializer do the work to form the Objective-C selector, we free the developer from having to do the naming translation manually and get static checking that the method exists and is exposed to Objective-C.</p><p style="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)">This proposal composes with the <a href="https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/Week-of-Mon-20160111/006262.html" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Naming Functions with Argument Labels proposal</a>, which lets us name methods along with their argument labels, e.g.:</p><pre style="overflow:auto;font-family:Consolas,'Liberation Mono',Menlo,Courier,monospace;font-size:14px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:16px;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;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><code style="font-family:Consolas,'Liberation Mono',Menlo,Courier,monospace;padding:0px;margin:0px;background-color:transparent;border-top-left-radius:3px;border-top-right-radius:3px;border-bottom-right-radius:3px;border-bottom-left-radius:3px;word-break:normal;border:0px;display:inline;line-height:inherit;word-wrap:normal">let sel = Selector(UIView.insertSubview(_:at:)) // produces the Selector "insertSubview:atIndex:"
</code></pre><p style="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)">With the introduction of the <code style="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">Selector</code> syntax, we should deprecate the use of string literals to form selectors. Ideally, we could perform the deprecation in Swift 2.2 and remove the syntax entirely from Swift 3.</p><p style="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)">Additionally, we should introduce specific migrator support to translate string-literals-as-selectors into method references. Doing this well is non-trivial, requiring the compiler/migrator to find all of the declarations with a particular Objective-C selector and determine which one to reference. However, it should be feasible, and we can migrator other references to a specific, string-based initialization syntax (e.g., <code style="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">Selector("insertSubview:atIndex:")</code>).</p><h2 style="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)"><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md#detailed-design" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;padding-right:2px;line-height:1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:1;font-family:octicons;display:inline-block;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:middle"></span></a>Detailed design</h2><p style="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)">The proposed <code style="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">Selector</code> initializer "almost" has the signature:</p><div style="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="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"><span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">extension</span> Selector {
<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">init</span><span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)"><</span>T, U<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">></span>(_ fn: (T) <span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">-></span> U)
}</pre></div><p style="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)">with some additional semantic restrictions that require that input be a reference to an <code style="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">objc</code> method. Specifically, the input expression must be a direct reference to an Objective-C method, possibly parenthesized and possible with an "as" cast (which can be used to disambiguate same-named Swift methods). For example, here is a "highly general" example:</p><div style="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="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"><span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">let</span> sel <span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">=</span> Selector(((UIKit<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">.</span>UIView<span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">.</span>insertSubview(_:at:)) <span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">as</span> (UIView) <span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">-></span> (UIView, <span style="color:rgb(0,134,179)">Int</span>) <span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">-></span> <span style="color:rgb(0,134,179)">Void</span>))</pre></div><p style="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)">The actual implementation will introduce some magic in the type checker to only support references to methods within the <code style="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">Selector</code> initialization syntax.</p><h2 style="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)"><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md#impact-on-existing-code" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;padding-right:2px;line-height:1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:1;font-family:octicons;display:inline-block;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:middle"></span></a>Impact on existing code</h2><p style="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)">The introduction of the <code style="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">Selector</code> initialization syntax has no impact on existing code. However, deprecating and removing the string-literal-as-selector syntax is a source-breaking change. We can migrate the uses to either the new <code style="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">Selector</code>initialization syntax or to explicit initialization of a <code style="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">Selector</code> from a string.</p><h2 style="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)"><a href="https://github.com/DougGregor/swift-evolution/blob/objc-selectors/proposals/0000-objc-selectors.md#alternatives-considered" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;padding-right:2px;line-height:1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:1;font-family:octicons;display:inline-block;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:middle"></span></a>Alternatives considered</h2><p style="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)">The primary alternative is <a href="https://lists.swift.org/pipermail/swift-evolution/2015-December/000233.html" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(64,120,192);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">type-safe selectors</a>, which would introduce a new "selector" calling convetion to capture the type of an <code style="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">@objc</code> method, including its selector. One major benefit of type-safe selectors is that they can carry type information, improving type safety. From that discussion, referencing <code style="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">MyClass.observeNotification</code> would produce a value of type:</p><div style="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="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"><span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">@convention</span>(selector) (MyClass) <span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">-></span> (NSNotification) <span style="color:rgb(167,29,93)">-></span> <span style="color:rgb(0,134,179)">Void</span></pre></div><div style="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">Objective-C APIs that accept selectors could provide type information (e.g., via Objective-C attributes or new syntax for a typed <code style="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">SEL</code>), improving type safety for selector-based APIs. Personally, I feel that type-safe selectors are a well-designed feature that isn't worth doing: one would probably not use them outside of interoperability with existing Objective-C APIs, because closures are generally preferable (in both Swift and Objective-C). The cost of adding this feature to both Swift and Clang is significant, and we would also need adoption across a significant number of Objective-C APIs to make it worthwhile. On iOS, we are talking about a relatively small number of APIs (100-ish), and many of those have blocks/closure-based variants that are preferred anyway. Therefore, we should implement the simpler feature in this proposal rather than the far more complicated (but admittedly more type-safe) alternative approach.</div></div><div><br></div><div><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>- Doug</div><div><br></div>
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