Why foreach(c; someString) must yield dchar

[Simen kjaeraas]

Rainer Deyke <rainerd at eldwood.com> wrote:

> On 8/19/2010 03:56, Jonathan Davis wrote:
>> The problem is that chars are not characters. They are UTF-8 code
>> units.
>
> So what?  You're acting like 'char' (and specifically 'char[]') is some
> sort of unique special case.  In reality, it's just one case of encoded
> data.  What about compressed data?  What about packed arrays of bits?
> What about other containers?

First off, char, wchar, and dchar are special cases already - they're
basically byte, short, and int, but are treated somewhat differently.

One possibility, which would make strings a less integrated part of the
language, is to make them simple range structs, and hide UTF-8/16
details in the implementation. If it were not for the fact that D touts
its UTF capabilities, and that this would make it a little less true,
and the fact that char/wchar/dchar are already treated specially, I
would support this idea.

-- 
Simen