Developing a plan for D2.0: Getting everything on the table

[Rainer Deyke]

Leandro Lucarella wrote:
> About values vs. reference semantics, I think reference is the best.
> Containers usually are big, and you don't want to copy them arround.
> I find myself using lots of references to pass containers arround in C++
> and almost never use the copy() method of Python containers, so based on
> *my* experience, I'd say that reference as the default is the best
> approach.

I don't think the choice of reference vs value semantics has *anything*
to do with how often something is copied.  To me, the relevant questions
are:
  - Do you have strict ownership relationships?  (Usually you do.)
  - Do you want to avoid long-distance bugs?  (Yes you do, always.)

Orthogonal question: does copying *ever* make sense:
  - If yes, provide a copy operation.
  - If no, prevent copying.


-- 
Rainer Deyke - rainerd at eldwood.com