First Draft: cast(ref T)... as shorthand for *cast(T*)&...

[Dom DiSc]

On Wednesday, 22 January 2025 at 19:17:06 UTC, Paul Backus wrote:

> language spec about how `cast(S) expr` can be rewritten to 
> `S(expr)` if S is a struct. [5]

> Burying this feature in the specification for cast expressions 
> would be, IMHO, a great way to ensure that hardly anybody ever 
> finds out about it.
>
> [5] https://dlang.org/spec/expression.html#cast_struct

I would use this much more often, if only it would work also with 
basic types. But I tend to write as-generic-as-possible code. If 
something works only for some types, it's most often completely 
useless. I'm much better off remembering only the way that works 
for every type.