Re:I Believe Zig Has Function Colors
by kjeetgill on Saturday April 09, 2022 @05:36AM
(#30966518)
So in someways, the best generalization like this I already commonly see is a capabilities system, which can be done essentially via function parameters. I've used this as an OOP pattern once or twice and I think it's the easiest way to explain it:
Imagine you have 2 singleton objects in your 'void main()', redkey and bluekey of types Redkey and Bluekey.
Somewhere else, you declare your function: 'int foo(Redkey redkey, int x, int y)' that needs a Redkey object of which only one exists: in your main.
This by itself forces every call on the path between 'main()' and a call to 'foo()' to also include a parameter Redkey.
In the extreme cases where a pattern like this is useful (tracing IO calls, you named it) it can really help cut through a codebase after an hour of refactoring. But it can be limiting. Async and Checked Exceptions are probably the most colored functions and they both need escape hatches because of that.
Imagine you have 2 singleton objects in your 'void main()', redkey and bluekey of types Redkey and Bluekey.
Somewhere else, you declare your function: 'int foo(Redkey redkey, int x, int y)' that needs a Redkey object of which only one exists: in your main.
This by itself forces every call on the path between 'main()' and a call to 'foo()' to also include a parameter Redkey.
In the extreme cases where a pattern like this is useful (tracing IO calls, you named it) it can really help cut through a codebase after an hour of refactoring. But it can be limiting. Async and Checked Exceptions are probably the most colored functions and they both need escape hatches because of that.