On Saturday, December 17, 2011 19:44:28 deadalnix wrote: > Very good point. CTFE is improving with each version of dmd, and is a > real alternative to static this(); It should be considered when > apropriate, it has many benefices.
I think that in general, the uses for static this fall into one of two categories: 1. Initializing stuff that can't be initialized at compile time. This includes stuff like classes or AAs as well as stuff which needs to be initialized with a value which isn't known until runtime (e.g. when the program started running). 2. Calling functions which need to be called at the beginning of the program (e.g. a function which does something to the environment that the program is running in). As CTFE improves, #1 should become smaller and smaller, and static this should be needed less and less, but #2 will always remain. It _is_ however the far rarer of the two use cases. So, ultimately static this may become very rare. - Jonathan M Davis
