Why is std.algorithm so complicated to use?

[Jonathan M Davis]

On Monday, July 09, 2012 16:16:42 Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> > Another example:
> > 
> > auto str = ["foo", "bar"].map!(x => x);
> > auto f = str.sort();
> > 
> > Results in:
> > 
> > http://pastebin.com/BeePWQk9
> 
> The first error message is at clear as it goes:
> 
> Error: r[i2] is not an lvalue

It's only clear if you go look at sort's implementation, and that failure 
isn't even in sort itself! It's in its helper function, swapAt. Either sort's 
template constraint should fail when it's given a range that won't work with 
it, or it needs a static assertion which tells the programmer exactly what's 
wrong. The fact that r[i2] isn't an lvalue means nothing without actually 
digging into the code, which the average programmer should not have to do.

- Jonathan M Davis