Other language features you'd want in D

[Denton Cockburn]

On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:25:24 -0800, Robert Fraser wrote:

> Denton Cockburn wrote:
>> What are some features found in other languages that you believe would be
>> really good to have in D?
>> 
>> These can be language features or library features.
>> 
>> It shouldn't be any of the general items found in the comparison FAQ (like
>> Multiple inheritance).  Something that's relatively nice and specific.
>> 
>> e.g.
>> I miss multiple value returns found in Lisp.  Out parameters are not
>> nearly as nice.
>> 
>> P.S. Has anyone thought to write a document on some of the struct tricks
>> that I've been seeing mentioned?  They exploit struct features, but I
>> think only a select few understand them.
> 
> Initializing runtime constants without a static this() a la Java,
> 
> class C
> {
>      static int x = someRuntimeInitializer(10);
>      int y = someRuntimeInitializer(20);
> }

I don't mind the static this() thing much.  It puts all the initialization
in one place.

I hated having to read this in java:

class Foo {
	/* variables with inits */
	/* some functions */
	/* some variables with inits that were added to the class later */
}

I will admit that it's quite a bit more typing though, especially with
many defaulted variables.