More Intuitive Syntax for Manifest (enum) Constants

[Peter C]

On Friday, 21 November 2025 at 11:20:51 UTC, Per Nordlöw wrote:
> On Friday, 21 November 2025 at 11:20:08 UTC, Per Nordlöw wrote:
>> is more intuitive and recognizable than
>>
>> ```d
>> macro N = 42;
>> ```
>
> Should be
>
> ```d
> enum N = 42;
> ```

If you want something that is intuitive and instantly 
recognizable (i.e. no keyword overloading):

constexpr int N = 42; // guaranteed to have no runtime memory 
allocation;
                       // its value is folded into the executable 
code.

of course, then you have a new keyword requirement for D, which 
will likely go nowhere....

as for.. macro N = 42;  ... well... yuk!

I presume enum N = 42; already guarantees the above anyway, so I 
wouldn't be arguing for a change here. But if designing a 
language from scratch, I would certainly not be considering 
overloading enum for this purpose (nor would I be considering 
using 'macro'!)

As it is, the syntax for expressing a manifest (enum) constant in 
D already exists, and it won't likely change. The conflict is 
semantic, not technical.