On Saturday, 1 December 2012 at 21:33:15 UTC, js.mdnq wrote:
By full signature overloading I assuming you also the return
type?
Correct.
I don't see why it is so complicated in any case since a return
type can just be seen as a ref argument:
int myfunc()
is basically the same as
void myfunc(ref int returnvalue)
The compiler has to check the return type already, so effectively
it's already able to perform full function overloading, but
instead of allowing it, the process is designed to prevent it,
which I think is an unfortunate artificial limitation.
Here's the thread, if you want to read all about it
function overload on full signature?
http://forum.dlang.org/thread/tmqkejkytuitqhnem...@forum.dlang.org
Based on how the discussion went, my guess is that the problem
has more to do with how the compiler is currently structured,
making it more difficult than it should be, and that the D devs
don't see enough benefit for implementing full function
overloading at this time.
However at least some aspects of the problem will have to be
tackled when attempting to fully implement "alias this", unless
it's decided to keep things very limited and disallow multiple
type conversions, but since that is something that C++ can do, I
suspect it will at least be considered.
--rt
