try/catch idiom in std.datetime

[Jacob Carlborg]

On 2013-11-18 12:03, Jonathan M Davis wrote:

> assert(0) is intended specifically for use in cases where a line is supposed to
> be unreachable, and it wouldn't make any sense to use it in any other case,
> because assertion failures are intended to kill the program, and assert(0)
> always fails. It happens that it throws an AssertError in non-release mode in
> order to give you better debug information on failure, and it's a HLT
> instruction in release, but in either case, it's intended to be unreachable
> code.
>
> The spec really should be updated to make it clear that when assertions are
> compiled in, assert(0) throws an AssertError and that when assertions are
> supposed to be compiled out, it becomes a HLT instruction. And if need be, we
> can update the spec to require that try-catches be compiled out when
> assertions are compiled out, and the catch's body only contains an assert(0).

Does all architectures support the HLT instruction or equivalent? The 
spec explicitly says HLT is used on x86.

-- 
/Jacob Carlborg