[OT] Microsoft filled patent applications for scoped and immutable types

[Timon Gehr via Digitalmars-d]

On 08/28/2014 07:34 PM, Walter Bright wrote:
>
>>     Aliases are not really prior art either since they do not allow
>> creating an immutable type without also creating the corresponding
>> mutable type.
>
> This seems to me to be reductio ad absurdum. And how does the patent say
> an immutable T is to be created without saying T anywhere?

I haven't actually read the claims, but there is an obvious way how to 
not create the mutable type as well:

immutable class C{
     D field; // error: D is not an immutable class
     // ...
}

class D{
     // ...
}

immutable class E{
     F field; // ok.
}

immutable class F{
     // ...
}

I.e. you can make immutability a property of the type instead of a type 
constructor. This does not share the head-immutability issue D has with 
its classes.