DIP6: Attributes

[Jacob Carlborg]

On 8/5/09 00:22, Jacob Carlborg wrote:
> On 8/4/09 18:55, Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
>> On Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:23:41 -0400, Andrei Alexandrescu
>> <SeeWebsiteForEmail at erdani.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:45:51 -0400, grauzone <none at example.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
>>>>>> don't think it's worth adding them until we can have full
>>>>>> reflection capabilities so we can get at elements of code and
>>>>>> therefore get the annotations associated with it. I see much more
>>>>>> usefulness for annotations as reflection hints than as a
>>>>>> replacement for keywords.
>>>>>
>>>>> But we already have full reflection. It's called __traits. You can
>>>>> build a serialization library or "proper" (user friendly?)
>>>>> reflection on top of it.
>>>> I think you are the 1 millionth person to say it, and yet we still do
>>>> not have a "user friendly" reflection system. Why is that? You'd
>>>> think that if it could be done, somebody would have done it by now.
>>>
>>> The reality is there's quite few of us. D is not in the stage where if
>>> something could be done, somebody somewhere has done it or is working
>>> on it.
>>>
>>
>> That's understandable, nobody can expect a language as young as D to
>> have everything.
>>
>> But in reality, I think the *theory* that everything is there to build a
>> reflection system is only proven when it actually happens. I'm sure when
>> the enterprising person or persons go to develop it, they will find
>> pieces missing from the static reflection system.
>>
>> So my point is that adding annotations before reflection works and is
>> implemented makes little sense to me, because the usage of them will be
>> crippled by the fact that reflection isn't complete.
>>
>> What I'd like to see is something like this possible:
>>
>> void foo (int timeout, string bar, float f = 4.0);
>>
>> void foo(int timeout);
>>
>> call!(foo)("timeout=5,bar=\"hello\"");
>>
>> Taking into account the default value of f, what the parameters are
>> named, and which overload to call. I could certainly do it with C#.
>>
>> -Steve
>
> You mean like this: http://tango.pastebin.com/m129241b0 ?
>
> /Jacob Carlborg

Forgot to say: this works in D1 with dmd, gdc and ldc.

/Jacob Carlborg