why D matters for Bioinformatics

[bearophile]

Christophe Travert:

> This little example raises a question if tuples becomes part of 
> the langage. Should static array have tuple capabilities ?

Why not? Fixed-sized arrays are similar to tuples with uniform 
types. Unpacking short arrays in the same way you unpack tuples 
*very handy* and it's commonly done in both Python and Haskell 
(and probably in other languages too):

In Python:

>>> t = (10, 20)
>>> a, b = t
>>> a
10
>>> b
20
>>> l = [3, 5]
>>> x, y = l
>>> x
3
>>> y
5


In Haskell:

Prelude> let t = (10, 20)
Prelude> let (a, b) = t
Prelude> a
10
Prelude> b
20
Prelude> let l = [3, 5]
Prelude> let [x, y] = l
Prelude> x
3
Prelude> y
5


> Besides that, it is easy to emulate your example with a little
> library solution. Maybe something like that should be added to
> std.range.

What syntax do you suggest?
(Generally tuple unpacking/small array unpacking is a so commonly 
done operation that it needs a clean and very nice syntax, so you 
often want it as built-in feature).

Bye,
bearophile