.init property for char[] type

[Jeremie Pelletier]

Justin Johansson wrote:
> In a templated class (D1.0) along lines ...
> 
> class Foo(T) {
> //..
>   static T bar() { return T.init; }
> //..
> }
> 
> Foo!(int).bar() returns 0 and Foo!(char[]).bar() returns nil.
> 
> I'd much prefer (at least for my purposes) that (char[]).init returned an empty string rather than effectively a null pointer.  Is there a convenient solution for this, e.g. by specializing just the bar method of class Foo when T is char[], or by some other means?
> 
> Maybe this type of question best be asked on D.learn, but I do wonder if an empty string is a more reasonable initializer for char[] .. well maybe not .. I don't know .. I yield to your sensibilities.
> 
> Thanks to all.
> 

You could use a custom type, which would solve your .init problem:
typedef string myString = "";

Or you could specialize your bar():

static T bar() {
     static if(isSomeString!T)
         return "";
     else
         return T.init;
}

I myself favor a null initializer, since char[] is a reference type, not 
a value type, it only makes sense to initialize it to a null reference.