Should this work?

[Regan Heath]

On Wed, 22 Jan 2014 19:39:14 -0000, Andrei Alexandrescu  
<SeeWebsiteForEmail at erdani.org> wrote:

> On 1/13/14 4:53 AM, Regan Heath wrote:
>> On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:30:12 -0000, Andrei Alexandrescu
>> <SeeWebsiteForEmail at erdani.org> wrote:
>>> The way I see it one learns a name for an algorithm (low cognitive
>>> load) and then uses it everywhere. This is not Go.
>>
>> Sure.  But, lets take an example: std.algorithm.canFind is more or less
>> what you might call std.string.contains (which does not exist - instead
>> we'd use indexOf != -1.. I think).
>
> Well there's no perfection in this world :o).
>
>> What is the harm in having an alias in std.string called contains which
>> simply calls std.algorithm.canFind?
>
> I think you can answer that for yourself. Just take the approach to its  
> logical conclusion.

You mean the best possible name in all contexts, yes!  :p

Seriously, I am not suggesting we do this for all functions all the time,  
but just enough so that most users find what they expect to find and get  
what they expect to get, where it doesn't break D's philosophy of not  
doing inefficient things for the sake of being generic of course.

>> Sure, it opens the door to someone using both canFind and contains on
>> strings in their code.  So what?  Use of contains is more
>> likely/intuitive for string related code, but both are intelligible.
>> canFind will be more likely in generic code, where you would think of
>> that generic algorithm name.
>>
>> It seems to me that people think of algorithms by different names in
>> different contexts.  In the context of strings "contains" would make the
>> most intuitive sense to the most people.
>
> I agree that good names are difficult to find. I think you'd have a hard  
> time with a "the more the merrier" stance.

This.  Not my position.  Rather I am suggesting we identify individual  
omissions (like std.string.contains) and add an alias.  So that people  
don't have to struggle quite so much when switching to D.  The lower the  
bar and all that..

>> Side-issue.. from std.algorithm:
>>
>> bool canFind(alias pred = "a == b", R, E)(R haystack, E needle) if
>> (is(typeof(find!pred(haystack, needle))));
>> Returns true if and only if **value** can be found in range. Performs
>> Ο(needle.length) evaluations of pred.
>>
>> What is **value** shouldn't that be needle?
>
> Please file a bug or pull request. Thanks!

Bug filed.

R