Struct with default ctor (Was: [dmd-beta] dmd 2.064 beta take 2)

[Timon Gehr]

On 05/19/2013 09:10 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> On 5/19/13 1:35 PM, deadalnix wrote:
>> On Sunday, 19 May 2013 at 13:13:07 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>>> On 5/19/13 9:11 AM, deadalnix wrote:
>>>> It is both a race condition and a null problem.
>>>
>>> No, it's just a race condition.
>>>
>>>> And having non nullable
>>>> type would have been a compile time error instead of days of debugging.
>>>
>>> No, the race condition would have stayed.
>>>
>>
>> That is ridiculous.  non nullable would have made the bug non existent,
>> and even without race condition the problem would exists. a reference is
>> null, it container shared, then set to something else. You can put
>> barriers all over the place to make that sequentially consistent that it
>> wouldn't change anything and the bug would still arise.
>
> No, your argument is ridiculous. You make a yarn with precious little
> detail that describes for everything everyone knows a textbook race
> condition, essentially ask that you are taking by your word that
> non-null would miraculously solve it, and, to add insult to injury, and
> when we don't buy it, you put the burden of proof on us. This is quite a
> trick, my hat is off to you.
> ...

It is easy to buy that the buggy code would have been rejected by a 
stronger type system whereas the fixed code would have passed type 
checking. Especially given that it manifested itself as a NPE, which 
would not even exist.