D2 toStringz Return Type

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
> "Andrei Alexandrescu" wrote
>> Mike Parker wrote:
>>> I'm curious as to why toStringz in D2 returns const(char)* instead of 
>>> just a plain char*. Considering that the primary use case foe the 
>>> function is interfacing with C code, it seems rather pointless to return 
>>> a const(char)*.
>> We want to leave the opportunity open to not duplicate the actual memory 
>> underneath the string object. (Right now that opportunity is not 
>> effected.)
> 
> My recommendation -- have 2 functions.  One which always copies (and returns 
> char *), and one which does not.
> 
> This at least leaves a safe alternative for people who have headers that 
> aren't properly constified, and don't want to go through the hassle of 
> looking it up themselves.  Also good for those C functions which actually 
> require a mutable char *, since D2 strings are mostly invariant.

You can't quite do that because dynamic conditions establish whether 
it's safe to avoid copying or not.

Andrei