Type Inference for Struct/Enum Literals

[Steven Schveighoffer]

On Friday, 5 July 2024 at 13:19:44 UTC, IchorDev wrote:

> - The `.` syntax feels natural for enum literals, but not for 
> struct literals. This would have to mean changing the module 
> scope operator (perhaps to `./`? (Like to how `./` represents 
> 'here' in a terminal) because otherwise module-level symbols 
> would interfere.
> - My original proposal used `$`, which I still like for struct 
> literals, but it's a bit random.
> - I don't like the C initialiser syntax (`{}`) but it could be 
> re-purposed for type-inferred struct literals, which would mean 
> we can basically merge the two.

OK, so in fact, we have an interesting possibility here. With 
editions we *could* potentially overtake the `.` prefix, and use 
something else for global scope.

The biggest problem with this is -- it breaks all existing 
knowledge of what this does. It is, for sure, the most natural 
syntax for this feature. One might argue that `$.symbol` could 
mean "global symbol" instead (or something else).

It's a pretty big lift for this, and I don't see it being 
accepted. Already there is pushback from the language maintainers 
on the concept itself (from the original review).

However, I would love to see this inference piece get into the 
language, whatever the syntax. I very much enjoyed it in my swift 
programs. I would guess that the best possibility to be accepted 
would be to have syntax that doesn't conflict with existing 
syntax.

-Steve