[Design] return char[] or string?

[Manfred Nowak]

Regan Heath wrote

> "Properties are member functions that can be syntactically treated
> as if they were fields"
> 
> I was under the impression the main benefit to properties was
> being able to replace an existing field (one in use by some user
> code) with a property and have it work without user code changes.

For me the definition implies that fields can replace properties, but 
no property can replace a field.

I read the definition above like this:
: if a member function can be syntactically treated as a field, then 
: it is a property
i.e.,  properties have less syntactical power than fields.

Because member functions with at most one formal parameter can be 
treated as fields in assignments, i.e. without the parentheses, D has 
properties according to the definition in the docs.

All those recognizable errors in yours and Stewart's examples are 
based on the wrong assumption, that properties are more powerful than 
fields.

-manfred