Now there are four ways to create/use "arrays" in D2: - the * syntax on a raw memory block, like in C. - fixed sized arrays, that are just a pointer somewhere. they may even become fully value types........ - the slice struct, about 2 * size_t.sizeof - the new reference arrays, a pointer on the stack, plus a 3 items struct somewhere, probably on the heap. If it doesn't escape the scope LDC may be able to put it too on the stack. The GC may allocate a space of 4 items anyway for it, so there's an item wasted. :-) In the meantime I have understood that the slice has to be the default syntax to keep the compatibility with C :-)
Walter Bright: > Yes. Clearly, those properties will have to be functions under the hood. > So T[new] operations will be a bit slower than for slices. For faster > indexing, you'd probably want to do: > auto slice = a[]; > and then operate on the slice. Let's hope such functions can be inlined. Assuming they can be inlined, a smart compiler can remove some of those ifs where it knows the array surely exists (virtual machines today are usually able to remove some array bound tests using similar tricks). I don't hold my breath for D2 to become this smart... Bye, bearophile
