Vectors and matrices

[Paul D. Anderson]

Lars Kyllingstad Wrote:

> I am writing a D library based some of the stuff in SLATEC, and I've 
> come to a point where I need to decide on a way to manipulate vectors 
> and matrices. To that end, I have some ideas and questions I would like 
> comments on from the community.
> 
> My first question goes to those among you who do a lot of linear algebra 
> in D: Do you think supporting both library  types and arrays is worth 
> the trouble? Or should I just go with one and be done with it?
> 
> 
> A user-defined matrix type would have opIndex(i,j) defined, and to 
> retrieve elements one would write m[i,j]. However, the syntax for 
> two-dimensional arrays is m[i][j], and this means I have to put a lot of 
> static ifs around my code, in order to check the type every time I 
> access a matrix. This leads me to my second question, which is a 
> suggestion for a language change, so I expect a lot of resistance. :)
> 
> Would it be problematic to define m[i,j,...] to be equivalent to 
> m[i][j][...] for built-in arrays, so that arrays and user-defined types 
> could be used interchangeably?
> 
> (And, importantly, are there anyone but me who think they would benefit 
> from this?)
> 
> 
> -Lars

If your looking for votes you have mine. I'd like to see a consistent interface for multidimensional rectangular arrays using the m[i,j,k,...] syntax. I know we've got people, like yourself, to provide implementations.

Paul