1 matches bool, 2 matches long

[Walter Bright]

On 4/26/2013 11:04 PM, Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
> I think the issue (and I am firmly in the foo(1) => long camp) is that bools are
> considered better integers than actual integer types (or even floating point
> types for that matter).  I agree that bools can be implicitly cast to and from
> integers, as a last resort.

The overload system in D is explicitly not based on "better". (The C++ "better" 
overloading system is for functions, but not for templates.) The D overload 
system is based on partial ordering, which is the same as what C++ uses for 
templates.

I don't know for a fact, but I'm pretty sure the partial ordering scheme that 
C++ selected for templates, which came along many years later, was picked 
because people realized it was better (and more mathematically robust and 
defensible).

One of the problems with a "better" matching system is handling functions with 
multiple parameters, each with their own "better" match. (The C++ Standard 
devotes a great deal of complex text to this, it boils down to a bunch of rather 
arbitrary decisions.) Partial ordering solves this neatly and consistently.

As one who implemented C++'s better matching system, I can confidently state 
that the partial ordering scheme is FAR better overall.