const

[Walter Bright]

Sean Kelly wrote:
> == Quote from Walter Bright (newshound1 at digitalmars.com)'s article
>> 3) The const regime is completely based on the idea of transitivity of
>> const. The problem is, D is the *only* language with a notion of
>> transitivity in it. A few academics know about it, but hardly any
>> practicing programmers. There is essentially no popular literature about
>> it. Mention transitivity to an experienced C++ or Java programmer, and
>> you'll get a completely blank look.
> 
> Really?  Transitivity is covered in basic math and logic courses.  I'd think
> they would grasp the idea immediately.

They don't. I speak from personal experience. Even for the ones who do 
understand transitivity, understanding the implications of it for const 
takes a lot longer.


> My only remaining issue with
> const is simply the choice of keywords for each meaning, and specifically,
> that the meaning of "const" not only changed from 1.0 to 2.0, but actually
> weakened.

Every time we tried to address that, we wound up with a system that 
didn't work.