Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
I think "with" is a very dangerous feature due to the way it hides
symbols. It essentially makes the feeblest attempt at modular reasoning
utterly impossible:
int x, y;
with (whatever)
{
y += x;
++x;
}
What can be said about such code? Nothing. If whatever has or will ever
have fields x or y or both, the names will bind to them; otherwise,
they'll bind to the locals. Non-local code dependency at its finest.
Maintenance of any type that is being used with "with" becomes a very
dangerous proposition because it can silently change meaning of code.
I therefore submit that "with" is an extremely dangerous feature and
should be removed from the language. What say you?
I agree, "with" makes code difficult to read. If one really wants to
avoid typing, just use alias:
alias my.very.long.string.of.symbols x;
a = x.foo;
x.foo = b;
This works with lvalues as well.
-Lars
