Discussion Thread: DIP 1028--Make @safe the Default--Final Review

[Walter Bright]

On 4/5/2020 12:22 PM, Timon Gehr wrote:
> I really doubt that. It's a simple rule. The version that is easiest to 
> implement is you simply disallow extern(C) functions without body to be marked 
> @safe. It's a single `if` statement in an appropriate place.

Famous last words.

Just look at the swamp of misery from "simple" C rules, such as their effect on 
C++ overloading. The quagmire got a lot worse when C++ added type inference. I 
attended a Scott Meyers talk that was a full hour long just on the weird special 
cases forced on C++ due to those simple rules. Companies pay Scott a boatload of 
cash for these lectures.

I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of the bugs in bugzilla are the result 
of an unexpected interaction between simple exceptions to rules.

I've been around this block a few thousand times. Remember, it ain't just the 
compiler. The users don't remember these exceptions. Every one of them makes the 
language harder to learn and master.