const vs immutable for local variables

[bearophile]

Jonathan M Davis:

> In C++, I tend to declare all local variables const when I know that they aren't 
> going to need to be altered. I'd like to something similar in D. However, D has 
> both const and immutable. I can see clear differences in how const and immutable 
> work with regards to function parameters and member variables, but it's not as 
> clear with regards to const and immutable.

In D2 for local variables that don't change use immutable when they are computed at run-time. I'd like to suggest you to use enum when they are known at compile-time, but in some cases this is bad (some examples of associative arrays, etc).


> So, the question is: what are the advantages of one over the other? Specifically, 
> my concern is how likely compiler optimizations are. Does using immutable make 
> compiler optimizations more likely? Or would const do just as well if not 
> better? Or is dmd smart enough that it really doesn't matter if you use const or 
> immutable on local variables which never change?

Or is dmd dumb enough that it makes no optimization difference? :-)

Bye,
bearophile