The Death of D1. (Was Tango vs Phobos)

[Sean Kelly]

superdan wrote:
> Robert Fraser Wrote:
> 
>> superdan wrote:
>>> it's a big issue to me just in the opposite direction. the c enum is brain damaged. even dennis ritchie so much as acknowledged it. (and he won't budge on the definition syntax. so i guess that does mean somethin'.) the c++ enum grew one lonely neuron. problem is we got just used to the wrong. we won't blink an eye at
>>>
>>> enum { a = 1, b = 2 };
>>>
>>> but we get pissed at
>>>
>>> enum { a = 1.1, b = 2.5 };
>> I see the first as a problem, too. An enum is an _enumeration_.
> 
> yeah. an enumerated type to be pedantic. as in, let me enumerate some stuff. i don't see an integer following from that.


That's fine.  I'd be okay with enumerated types containing floating 
point values, strings, whatever.  But they should always have a name. 
Using them to declare globally usable constants is just wrongheaded.

>> It 
>> should not be abused for bitfields, masks, constants or anything else. 
> 
> that's not an abuse. it's just use.
> 
> let me enumerate some math constants.
> 
> enum math_constants
> {
>     pi = 3.14,
>     e = 2.71,
>     avocado = 6.023e-23,
> }
> 
> there was no abuse, your honor.
> 
>> Look at how it's used in Java/C# (ignoring the fact that Java's enum is 
>> actually syntactic sugar for a class...):
>>
>> - Only named enums are supported (otherwise, what are you enumerating?)
> 
> i am enumerating symbolic constants that logically belong together but don't have the same type.

Yeah, I see what you're saying.  I'd say that it's logically a mis-use 
of 'enum', but it does the trick.

>> - They can't be used as bitfields/masks (constants can be used for this 
>> purpose)
> 
> but enums are constants. so it looks like those doods got it all wrong because they have two concepts for the same thing.

I disagree.  An enum is a constrained type.  Each element of an enum 
does happen to be a constant, but so what.  More general constrained 
types would be similar:

     int[0..5] x; // an integer required to be between 0 and 5


Sean