Wandering OT, starttime execution

[Kyle Furlong]

Chad J wrote:
> Derek Parnell wrote:
>>
>>
>> There are already precedents for this type of coding. Not only the  
>> 'unittest' idea but 'scope()' also allows us to physically separate 
>> code  that is executed linearly. So the concept is not foreign to D or 
>> Walter.
>>
> 
> While I'm at it, I'd also like to see the ability to set a variable to 
> the result of some function at starttime, like so:
> 
> int[] squares = initSquares();
> 
> int[] initSquares()
> {
>     int[] result = new int[20];
>     for ( int i = 0; i < 20; i++ )
>         result[i] = i * i;
>     return result;
> }
> 
> void main()
> {
>     char[] testStr;
>     for ( int i = 0; i < squares.length; i++ )
>         testStr ~= toString(i)~" squared is "~toString( squares[i] ) ~ 
> "\n";
> 
>     writefln( testStr );
> }
> 
> This is something I used in C# and enjoyed.  Any particular reason this 
> doesn't exist already?  Maybe I am supposed to write my code a different 
> way, if so please enlighten me.  My current workaround is to use static 
> ctors, but that doesn't seem as readable to me.

This is the natural functional area for template functions.

Simply change your code to this:

int[20] squares = initSquares!(int, 20)();

template initSquares(T, int C)
{
     T[] initSquares()
     {
          T[C] result;
          for ( int i = 0; i < C; i++ )
              result[i] = i * i;
          return result;
     }
}

-- 
Kyle Furlong // Physics Undergrad, UCSB

"D is going wherever the D community wants it to go." - Walter Bright