<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 May 25, 2016, at 4:17 PM, David Hart 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="">Hello,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This is a new pitch to allow explicitly specializing generic functions. Notice that potential ambiguity with initialisers and how I’m currently trying to avoid it. Please let me know what you think!</div></div></div></blockquote><div><br class=""></div>Hi David,</div><div><br class=""></div><div>I’m wondering if the only motivation here is to be more explicit about the types involved so you can avoid having to rely on type inference and the code is more clear, or if you also have the expectation that we’ll generate a type-specialized version of the body of the function in question which you would expect to be more efficient than the fully generic version?</div><div><br class=""></div><div>Do you imagine this supporting a scenario where only some of the type parameters are given explicitly and others are inferred, or would this only be supported in the case where all type parameters were given explicitly?</div><div><br class=""></div><div>What if some of those type parameters were themselves generics? For example:</div><div> func callee<T : SignedInteger, U : AnotherProtocol>(x: T, y: U) { … }</div><div> func caller<T : AnotherProtocol>(x: T) {</div><div> let f = bar<Int, T> // supported</div><div> f(3, x)</div><div> }</div><div><br class=""></div><div>Mark</div><div><br class=""></div><div><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=""><br class=""></div><div class="">David</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="">Allow explicit specialization of generic functions</h1><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 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/XXXX-allow-explicit-specialization-generic-functions.md" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">SE-XXXX</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Author: <a href="https://github.com/hartbit" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">David Hart</a>, <a href="https://github.com/DougGregor" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none;" class="">Douglas Gregor</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Status: TBD</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/hartbit/swift-evolution/tree/allow-explicit-types-generic-functions#introduction" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path d="M4 9h1v1h-1c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5s1.55-3.5 3-3.5h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-0.91 2.72-2 3.25v-1.16c0.58-0.45 1-1.27 1-2.09 0-1.28-1.02-2.5-2-2.5H4c-0.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5s1 2.5 2 2.5z m9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5s-1.02 2.5-2 2.5H9c-0.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-0.83 0.42-1.64 1-2.09v-1.16c-1.09 0.53-2 1.84-2 3.25 0 1.81 1.55 3.5 3 3.5h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5s-1.5-3.5-3-3.5z"></path></svg></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="">This proposal allows bypassing the type inference engine and explicitly specializing type arguments of generic functions. </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/hartbit/swift-evolution/tree/allow-explicit-types-generic-functions#motivation" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path d="M4 9h1v1h-1c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5s1.55-3.5 3-3.5h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-0.91 2.72-2 3.25v-1.16c0.58-0.45 1-1.27 1-2.09 0-1.28-1.02-2.5-2-2.5H4c-0.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5s1 2.5 2 2.5z m9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5s-1.02 2.5-2 2.5H9c-0.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-0.83 0.42-1.64 1-2.09v-1.16c-1.09 0.53-2 1.84-2 3.25 0 1.81 1.55 3.5 3 3.5h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5s-1.5-3.5-3-3.5z"></path></svg></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="">In Swift, generic type parameters are inferred by the argument or return value types as follows:</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; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; word-wrap: normal; padding: 16px; overflow: auto; 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-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);">foo</span><T>(t: T) { <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span> }
foo(<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">5</span>) <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// infers T = Int</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="">There exists certain scenarios when a programmer wants to explicitly specialize a generic function. Swift does not allow it, so we resort to giving hints to the inference engine:</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; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; word-wrap: normal; padding: 16px; overflow: auto; 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-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> f1 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> foo <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">as</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);">-></span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Void</span>)
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> f2: (<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);">Void</span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> foo
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> f3 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> foo<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);">Int</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span> <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// error: Cannot explicitly specialize a generic function</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);">bar</span><T>() <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);">...</span> }
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> b1 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> bar() <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">as</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);">let</span> b2: <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> bar()
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> b3 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> bar<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);">Int</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span>() <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// error: Cannot explicitly specialize a generic function</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="">This behaviour is not very consistent with generic types which allow specialization:</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; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; word-wrap: normal; padding: 16px; overflow: auto; 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-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> array: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Array</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);">Int</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);">=</span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Array</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);">Int</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span>(arrayLiteral: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">1</span>, <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">2</span>, <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">3</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="">Therefore, this proposal seeks to make the above errors valid specializations:</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; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; word-wrap: normal; padding: 16px; overflow: auto; 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-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> f3 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> foo<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);">Int</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span> <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// explicitly specialized to (Int) -> Void </span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> b3 <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> bar<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);">Int</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span>() <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// explicitly specialized to () -> Int </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="">An ambiguous scenario arrises when we wish to specialize initializer functions:</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; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; word-wrap: normal; padding: 16px; overflow: auto; 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-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">struct</span> Foo<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);"><</span>T: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">RawRepresentable</span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">where</span> T<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>RawValue <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);">let</span> storage: T
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">init</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);"><</span>U: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">CustomStringConvertible</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span>(_ value: U) {
storage <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> T(rawValue: value<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);">description</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);">enum</span> Bar: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">String</span>, <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">CustomStringConvertible</span> {
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">case</span> foobar <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> <span class="pl-s" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(24, 54, 145);"><span class="pl-pds" style="box-sizing: border-box;">"</span>foo<span class="pl-pds" style="box-sizing: border-box;">"</span></span>
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">var</span> description: <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);">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-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">rawValue</span>
}
}
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> a <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> Foo<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);"><</span>Bar<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span>(Bar<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>foobar)</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="">Does this specialization specialize the struct's or the initializer's generic type? The proposal solves this ambiguity by requiring initializer generic type specialization to use the <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="">init</code> syntax:</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; font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.45; word-wrap: normal; padding: 16px; overflow: auto; 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-break: normal;" class=""><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> a <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> Foo<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);"><</span>Bar<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><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);"><</span>Bar<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">></span>(Bar<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">.</span>foobar)</pre></div><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-detailed-design" class="anchor" href="https://github.com/hartbit/swift-evolution/tree/allow-explicit-types-generic-functions#detailed-design" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path d="M4 9h1v1h-1c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5s1.55-3.5 3-3.5h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-0.91 2.72-2 3.25v-1.16c0.58-0.45 1-1.27 1-2.09 0-1.28-1.02-2.5-2-2.5H4c-0.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5s1 2.5 2 2.5z m9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5s-1.02 2.5-2 2.5H9c-0.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-0.83 0.42-1.64 1-2.09v-1.16c-1.09 0.53-2 1.84-2 3.25 0 1.81 1.55 3.5 3 3.5h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5s-1.5-3.5-3-3.5z"></path></svg></a>Detailed Design</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="">Function calls are fairly straight forward and have their grammar modified as follows:</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=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">function-call-expression</em> → <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">postfix-expression</em> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">generic-argument-clause<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: -0.25em;" class="">opt</span></em> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">parenthesized-expression</em></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=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">function-call-expression</em> → <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">postfix-expression</em> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">generic-argument-clause<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: -0.25em;" class="">opt</span></em> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">parenthesized-expression<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: -0.25em;" class="">opt</span></em> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">trailing-closure</em></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="">To allow initializers to be called with explicit specialization, we need to use the Initializer Expression. Its grammar is modified to:</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=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">initializer-expression</em> → <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">postfix-expression</em> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">.</span> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">init</em> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">generic-argument-clause<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: -0.25em;" class="">opt</span></em></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=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">initializer-expression</em> → <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">postfix-expression</em> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">.</span> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">init</em> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">generic-argument-clause<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: -0.25em;" class="">opt</span></em> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">(</span> <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">argument-names</em> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">)</span></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-impact-on-existing-code" class="anchor" href="https://github.com/hartbit/swift-evolution/tree/allow-explicit-types-generic-functions#impact-on-existing-code" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path d="M4 9h1v1h-1c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5s1.55-3.5 3-3.5h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-0.91 2.72-2 3.25v-1.16c0.58-0.45 1-1.27 1-2.09 0-1.28-1.02-2.5-2-2.5H4c-0.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5s1 2.5 2 2.5z m9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5s-1.02 2.5-2 2.5H9c-0.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-0.83 0.42-1.64 1-2.09v-1.16c-1.09 0.53-2 1.84-2 3.25 0 1.81 1.55 3.5 3 3.5h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5s-1.5-3.5-3-3.5z"></path></svg></a>Impact on Existing Code</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="">This proposal is purely additive and will have no impact on existing code.</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-alternatives-considered" class="anchor" href="https://github.com/hartbit/swift-evolution/tree/allow-explicit-types-generic-functions#alternatives-considered" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding-right: 2px; margin-left: -18px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path d="M4 9h1v1h-1c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5s1.55-3.5 3-3.5h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-0.91 2.72-2 3.25v-1.16c0.58-0.45 1-1.27 1-2.09 0-1.28-1.02-2.5-2-2.5H4c-0.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5s1 2.5 2 2.5z m9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5s-1.02 2.5-2 2.5H9c-0.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-0.83 0.42-1.64 1-2.09v-1.16c-1.09 0.53-2 1.84-2 3.25 0 1.81 1.55 3.5 3 3.5h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5s-1.5-3.5-3-3.5z"></path></svg></a>Alternatives Considered</h2><div style="box-sizing: border-box; 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="">Not adopting this proposal for Swift.</div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br class="">swift-evolution mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:swift-evolution@swift.org" class="">swift-evolution@swift.org</a><br class="">https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-evolution<br class=""></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></body></html>