Property discussion wrap-up

[Zach the Mystic]

On Tuesday, 29 January 2013 at 17:47:44 UTC, Rob T wrote:
> The struct property concept is perhaps more profound than the 
> function-only approach because it can be used for much more 
> than what was originally intended, For example, any normal 
> variable can be redefined into a property, allowing you to add 
> additional state to it, and additional intelligence. 
> Effectively, you are able to create "smart" variables and use 
> them in a generalized way.

There is even more then one way to do it, and your new struct 
need not carry any data of its own:

struct Steve
{
   int _n;
   bool nHasBeenSet;
   n struct
   {
     int opGet() { return _n; }
     int opAssign( int newN ) {
       _n = newN;
       nHasBeenSet = true;
       return _n;
     }
   }
}

The extra data is outside the struct's property definition. I 
assume this would be the normal way to do it. Structs have 
incredible semantics, and they're already in the language. In my 
opinion, their use as a namespace is under-appreciated.

> The property as a function approach, is not very profound, and 
> the need for them is not very compelling, especially 
> considering how much effort is being spend on this topic. The 
> struct approach however is much more interesting and has much 
> more potential use.
>
> --rt

Thank you for saying that, Rob T.