Named Parameters (Was: A nice way to step into 2012)

[Timon Gehr]

On 12/29/2011 03:38 AM, bearophile wrote:
> Timon Gehr:
>
>> On 12/29/2011 02:04 AM, Derek wrote:
>>> On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:48:57 +1100, Timon Gehr<timon.gehr at gmx.ch>  wrote:
>>>
>>>> Having parameter names contribute to the interface means that all
>>>> developers need to spend time thinking about the best possible names
>>>> for their function parameters.
>>>
>>> And that's a bad thing, right?
>>
>> If the time was better spent at creating functionality, yes.
>>
>> http://www.digitalmars.com/d/archives/digitalmars/D/Rename_std.string.toStringz_138740.html
>>
>> http://www.digitalmars.com/d/archives/digitalmars/D/Fixing_enum_names_in_Phobos_141507.html
>>
>> http://www.digitalmars.com/d/archives/digitalmars/D/std.getopt_suggestion_145648.html#N145648
>>
>> http://www.digitalmars.com/d/archives/digitalmars/D/renamepalooza_time_127446.html
>
> I don't agree. Names are among the most important things in a human mind, if you find the right names, API usability improves. Thinking about the best names is time well spent, especially for library functions used by a lot of all kind of people for a lot of time.
>
> Bye,
> bearophile

My point is, without named arguments you can improve the names at any 
time. With named arguments, you are stuck and have to get it right upfront.