resizeable arrays: T[new]

[Walter Bright]

Oskar Linde wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
> 
>> Now, it turns out that it is very rare for a function to legitimately 
>> want to resize a buffer passed to it. So we finally hit on the idea of 
>> making a resizeable array a different type, say:
> 
> An excellent suggestion. And I'm not only saying that because I have 
> suggested this several times myself. :p

Can you point me to the posting(s)? You should get the credit for being 
first.

>>
>>    T[n]   a;  // static array
>>    T[]    b;  // dynamic array
>>    T[new] c;  // resizeable array
> 
> I'd propose a different nomenclature:
> 
> T[n]   a;  // static array
> T[]    b;  // (array) slice
> T[new] c;  // dynamic array

I like "resizeable" array because it is pretty clear what it does.

> I also agree with others that there are better alternatives to "new". 
> T[*] is my favorite.

Looks like C99's VLA.

> Short version: You always want to pass ref T[new]. Forgetting ref is 
> probably a bug, but is silently accepted by the compiler. Ergo, ref 
> should be the default. :)

Frits has posted a realistic use case that argues it shouldn't be.