Uniform Function Call syntax for properties

[Robert Jacques]

On Sat, 09 Oct 2010 16:28:32 -0400, Denis Koroskin <2korden at gmail.com>  
wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Oct 2010 00:09:23 +0400, Sean Kelly <sean at invisibleduck.org>  
> wrote:
>
>> Andrei Alexandrescu <SeeWebsiteForEmail at erdani.org> wrote:
>>> On 10/8/10 7:55 CDT, Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
>>>> Someone was asking about UFC syntax for properties on d.learn, and I
>>>> realized, we have a huge ambiguity here.
>>>>
>>>> Given a function:
>>>>
>>>> @property int foo(int x)
>>>>
>>>> Is this a global setter or a getter on an int?
>>>
>>> Good question.
>>
>> Setter. Consider "a = b = c".
>
> I think you missed the point. Which of the two is it:
>
> int x = 42;
> auto y = x.foo(); // transformed into "auto y = foo(x);", getter
>
> or
>
> foo = 42; // transformed into "foo(42);", setter
>
> Both match.

I agree that there is ambiguity here, but does it why does foo have to be  
only a getter or only a setter? Why can't it behave like either, depending  
on its implementation and use?