.NET on a string

[Cristian Vlasceanu]

Steven Schveighoffer Wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:26:16 -0400, Cristian Vlasceanu  
> <cristian at zerobugs.org> wrote:
> 
> > Back to the slices topic: I agree that my proposed "ref" solution would  
> > require code changes, but isn't that true for T[new] as well?
> >
> > Cristian
> >
> 
> There is not already a meaning for T[new], it is a syntax error.  There is  
> already a meaning for ref T[].
> 

Yes, but the current, existing meaning will be preserved:

void f(ref T[] a) {
   a[13] = 42; // still works as before if "a" is a slice under the hood
   a = null; // very easy for the compiler to make this work: a.array = null
}

I thought that your main objection was that, with my proposed change, in code like this:

int [] a = ...
int [] s = a[0..$]; 

"s" becomes a full blown copy of a (rather than a slice), and to reinstate the today's semantics the code should be re-written to:

ref int [] s = a[0..$]; 

It is true, but such cases can be worked out in the compiler and we'll have warning messages issued.

Thanks,
Cristian