std.algorithm.remove and principle of least astonishment

[Steven Schveighoffer]

On Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:07:55 -0500, Andrei Alexandrescu  
<SeeWebsiteForEmail at erdani.org> wrote:

> On 11/22/10 9:37 AM, Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
>> On Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:56:17 -0500, Andrei Alexandrescu
>> <SeeWebsiteForEmail at erdani.org> wrote:
>>
>>> If you want to work with arrays, use a[0] to access the front, a[$ -
>>> 1] to access the back, and a = a[1 .. $] to chop off the first element
>>> of the array. It is not AT ALL natural to mix those with a.front,
>>> a.back etc. It is not - why? because std.range defines them with
>>> specific meanings for arrays in general and for arrays of characters
>>> in particular. If you submit to use std.range's abstraction, you
>>> submit to using it the way it is defined.
>>
>> I want to use char[] as an array. I want to sort the array, how do I do
>> this? (assume array.sort as a property is deprecated, as it should be)
>
> Why do you want to sort an array of char?

You're dodging the question.  You claim that if I want to use it as an  
array, I use it as an array, if I want to use it as a range, use it as a  
range.  I'm simply pointing out why you can't use it as an array --  
because phobos treats it as a bidirectional range, and you can't force it  
to do what you want.

More points -- what about a redblacktree!(char)?  Is that 'invalid'?  I  
mean, it's automatically sorted, so what should I do, throw an error if  
you try to build one?  Is an Array!char a string?  What about an  
SList!char?

The thing is, *only* when one wants to create strings, does one want to  
view the data type as a bidirectional string.  When one wants to deal with  
chars as an element of a container, I don't want to be restricted to utf  
requirements.

FWIW, I deal in ASCII pretty much exclusively, so sorting an array of char  
is not out of the question.  You might say "oh, well that's stupid!" but  
then so is using the index operator on a char[] array, no?  I see no  
difference.

I'm going to drop out of this discussion in order to develop a viable  
alternative to using arrays to represent strings.  Then we can discuss the  
merits/drawbacks of such a type.  I think it will be simple to build.

-Steve