<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=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Hello all—</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">This is a proposal for a fairly minor change in slicing behavior for unsafe buffers.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Nate</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">------</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">This proposal changes Swift's typed </span><code style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); 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="">UnsafeBufferPointer</code><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">s </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">to be their own slice type, like the</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> </span><code style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); 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="">UnsafeRawBufferPointer</code><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">types. This is a minor change in the subscript API of</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> </span><code style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); 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="">UnsafeBufferPointer</code><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">and</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> </span><code style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); 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="">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</code><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">, but constitutes a change to the standard library's ABI, as it can't be solved through type aliasing.</span></div><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; line-height: 1.25; 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: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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://gist.github.com/natecook1000/a239f4db2704db9c5d54d540c0a09499#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; float: left; padding-right: 4px; margin-left: -20px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Motivation</h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">The standard library has parallel pointer and buffer types for working with raw and typed memory. These types have broadly similar APIs that streamline working with pointers, as some kinds of memory manipulation involve moving back and forth between the two. One significant difference between the two groups of buffer types, however, is that while <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="">UnsafeRawBufferPointer</code>s are their own slice type, <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="">UnsafeBufferPointer</code>s use the default <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="">Slice</code> type as a wrapper.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Using a <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="">Slice</code> wrapper is a needless addition when working with buffers—the wrapper is most useful when used to prevent copying of a collection's stored data, but since <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="">UnsafeBufferPointer</code>s aren't owners of the memory they reference, there is no copying performed when simply creating a new buffer over a subrange of the memory. Moreover, the overhead of a <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="">Slice</code> wrapper around an <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="">UnsafeBufferPointer</code> is almost certainly higher than another <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="">UnsafeBufferPointer</code>. instance.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">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="">Slice</code> wrapper makes using buffer pointers as parameters more cumbersome than necessary. To pass a slice of a buffer to a function taking a buffer, you need to create a new buffer manually:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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);">_operateOnBuffer</span><<span class="pl-v" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(237, 106, 67);">T</span>>(<span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">_</span> <span class="pl-smi" style="box-sizing: border-box;">buffer</span>: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</span><T>) {
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// ...</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span>}
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> buffer<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);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</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-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);">_operateOnBuffer</span>(buffer) <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// okay</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span><span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">_operateOnBuffer</span>(buffer[<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">0</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);">16</span>]) <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// error: type mismatch</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">let</span> subBuffer <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);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</span>(<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">start</span>: buffer, <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</span>: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">16</span>)
<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">_operateOnBuffer</span>(subBuffer) <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// okay</span></pre></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">The wrapper complicates subscript assignment, as well. Instead of using simple assignment to copy all the elements of one buffer into a memory range of another, you must either manually create a slice or subscript the source buffer with its full range:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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> biggerBuffer<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);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</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-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> smallerBuffer<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);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</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-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span>
biggerBuffer[<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">0</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">..<</span>smallerBuffer.<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</span>] <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span>
smallerBuffer[<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">0</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">..<</span>smallerBuffer.<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</span>]</pre></div><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; line-height: 1.25; 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: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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://gist.github.com/natecook1000/a239f4db2704db9c5d54d540c0a09499#proposed-solution" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(64, 120, 192); text-decoration: none; float: left; padding-right: 4px; margin-left: -20px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Proposed solution</h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">The proposed solution is to switch 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="">UnsafeBufferPointer</code>s to be their own slice type. This uses less overhead than 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="">Slice</code> type, which needs to store both the original buffer and a bounding range.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">The operations above are simpler with this change:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">_operateOnBuffer</span>(buffer[<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">0</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);">16</span>]) <span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// subscripting okay</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// no need to subscript 'smallerBuffer'</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span>biggerBuffer[<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">0</span><span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">..<</span>smallerBuffer.<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</span>] <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">=</span> smallerBuffer </pre></div><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; line-height: 1.25; 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: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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://gist.github.com/natecook1000/a239f4db2704db9c5d54d540c0a09499#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; float: left; padding-right: 4px; margin-left: -20px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></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: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">The change follows the example of the raw buffer pointer types:</p><div class="highlight highlight-source-swift" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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> <span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">UnsafeBufferPointer</span><<span class="pl-v" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(237, 106, 67);">Element</span>> : <span class="pl-e" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);"><span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Collection</span>, <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span> </span>{
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// other declarations</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">subscript</span>(<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">bounds</span>: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Range</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);">UnsafeBufferPointer</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);">// check bounds</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">return</span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</span>(
<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">start</span>: <span class="pl-v" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(237, 106, 67);">self</span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">+</span> bounds.<span class="pl-smi" style="box-sizing: border-box;">lowerBound</span>,
<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</span>: bounds.<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</span>)
}
}
}
<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">struct</span> <span class="pl-en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</span><<span class="pl-v" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(237, 106, 67);">Element</span>> : <span class="pl-e" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(121, 93, 163);"><span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Collection</span>, <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">...</span> </span>{
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);">// other declarations</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">subscript</span>(<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">bounds</span>: <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">Range</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);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</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);">// check bounds</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">return</span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">UnsafeMutableBufferPointer</span>(
<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">start</span>: <span class="pl-v" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(237, 106, 67);">self</span> <span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">+</span> bounds.<span class="pl-smi" style="box-sizing: border-box;">lowerBound</span>,
<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</span>: bounds.<span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">count</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);">// check bounds</span>
<span class="pl-c" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(150, 152, 150);"></span> <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">_writeBackMutableSlice</span>(<span class="pl-k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(167, 29, 93);">&</span><span class="pl-v" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(237, 106, 67);">self</span>, <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">bounds</span>: bounds, <span class="pl-c1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 134, 179);">slice</span>: newValue)
}
}
}</pre></div><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; line-height: 1.25; 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: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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://gist.github.com/natecook1000/a239f4db2704db9c5d54d540c0a09499#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; float: left; padding-right: 4px; margin-left: -20px; line-height: 1;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="octicon octicon-link" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Impact on existing code</h2><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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="">Any existing code that works with slices of UnsafeMutableBufferPointer and specifies 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="">Slice</code> type explicitly will need to change that specification. This isn't a terribly common thing to do (I can't find any in the standard library or test suite), so the impact of the change should be minor.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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=""><br class=""></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 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=""><br class=""></div></body></html>