[phobos] next release (meaning of path)

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

On 1/3/11 10:40 AM, spir wrote:
> On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 07:57:24 -0800
> Jonathan M Davis<jmdavisProg at gmx.com>  wrote:
>
>> Much as I have found path types to be useful at times, they can definitely be a
>> bit burdensome for simple operations, and simple operations are all that the
>> vast majority of the programs out there really care about. So, I'm tempted to
>> say that a path type just isn't worth the bother in std.path and leave it to a
>> third party library for those who really care.
>
> As an intermediate solution, why not let standard _file_ operations have plain string pathes as parameters, but provide a Path type in std.path. Anyway, it won't bother you if let it alone ;-)
>
> An even lighter alternative would be to define
> 	alias string[] Path;
> then (re)write all path functionality funcs as pseudo-methods taking
> a string[] as first arg, to benefit from the "unversal func call
> syntax" (which you like so much, and myself as well), that currently
> works only for arrays. [Except for the pseudo-constructor.] Worth
> exploring?

Honestly, I don't think so. Global aliases like that are not all that 
great because they suggest a type with only path-specific primitives 
whereas in reality it's not quite all that.

I agree that sometimes you could use a broken-down path (e.g. per 
Steve's examples) but as Steve also said they are not commonly encountered.


Andrei