• d-bugmail puremagic.com (50/50) Feb 22 2020 https://issues.dlang.org/show_bug.cgi?id=20595

d-bugmail puremagic.com writes:

https://issues.dlang.org/show_bug.cgi?id=20595

          Issue ID: 20595
           Summary: there should be a way to suggest that `auto` return
                    will only be of certain types
           Product: D
           Version: D2
          Hardware: All
                OS: All
            Status: NEW
          Severity: enhancement
          Priority: P1
         Component: dmd
          Assignee: nobody puremagic.com
          Reporter: b2.temp gmx.com

`auto` as a function return type is sometimes avoided by people who like to
have a clean API.
Unfortunately this is not always possible. This has a negative effect on
completion, code navigation, and documentation.

There should exist a syntax to indicate that `auto` will be among certain types
or instance of a certain template declaration, 
similarly to constraint on template parameters.

examples:

  // before... for now you have to navigate into two nested templates to find 
  // the hint we will attach to auto.
  auto matchAll(R, RegEx)(R input, RegEx re);            
  // after, type returned must be a template instance of RegexMatch
  auto(RegexMatch) matchAll(R, RegEx)(R input, RegEx re)


  // before... for now you're not sure because depending on the langs you
already know 
  // you'll think that either trunc() will return an integer or a floating type
  auto trunc(T)(T t) if (isIntegral!T);
  // after, type return is aliased as RT and RT must verify the template
isFloating.
  auto(RT, isFloating!RT) trunc(T)(T t) if (isIntegral!T);

so for the syntax maybe

'auto' ('(' AutoHint ')')?
AutoHint < BasicType
         / AutoHintExpression 

AutoHintExpression < Identifier ',' RelExpression

AutoHint as BasicType semantics:

  The BasicType must either represent a type or a template declaration.
  The infered type must be of the type or an instance of the tempalte
declaration, according to what represented BasicType

AutoHint as AutoHintExpression semantics:

  The identifier represents the type that's inferred
  The relational expression uses the identifier to performs checks.
  The type inferred must verify the RelExpression

The would also works for declaring variables (AutoDeclarationX), with
const(...) immutable(...) too, although essentially useful for functions.

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