Isn't C#'s named arguments basically what you want? You can choose to use the names or not at the time of calling the function. You can name some arguments but not others. Don't many programming languages have this feature?
Re:N-Params vs. Single Param
by intrepidhero on Thursday April 17, 2025 @06:39PM
(#43722994)
I had a similar thought while designing my dream programming language but I also wanted automatic currying and I couldn't figure out an ergonomic way to have both.
Now I'm gonna go read your blog series.
Re:N-Params vs. Single Param
by ashtuchkin on Thursday April 17, 2025 @07:31PM
(#43723370)
python does this pretty elegantly:
def my_func(a: int, b: int):
print(a+b)
# both of these can be used
my_func(1, 2)
my_func(a=1, b=2)Also `my_func(**{a:1, b:2})`
Even better, python has named tuples [0]. So if you have a tuple that you are sure will always have the same inputs you can declare it:
``` Point = namedtuple('Point', 'x y') pt1 = Point(1.0, 5.0) ```
And then call the X or Y coordinates either by index: pt1[0], pt1[1], or coordinate name: pt1.x, pt1.y.
This can be a really handy way to help people understand your code as what you are calling becomes a lot more explicit.
[0] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2970608/what-are-named-t...
This isn't what I'm talking about. I would want
def my_func(a: int, b: int):
...
def my_func2(args: my_func.__args_type__):
...
[1] https://samkrit.ch/2025/03/09/programming-1.html#anonymous-t...