On 18 March 2012 04:47, F i L <witte2...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm a bit confused. Reading through the virtual function's docs ( > http://dlang.org/function.**html#virtual-functions<http://dlang.org/function.html#virtual-functions>) > it says: > > "All non-static non-private non-template member functions are virtual. > This may sound inefficient, but since the D compiler knows all of the class > hierarchy when generating code, all functions that are not overridden can > be optimized to be non-virtual." > > So if all functions are automatically optimized to non-virtual where > applicable, then the "final" keyword is for conceptual access limitation > only. This makes a lot of sense to me. Is there something I'm not getting > that makes you want an explicit "virtual" keyword? >
It's not dependable. Virtually everything meets those criteria and will be virtual, but I want to be confident that NOTHING is EVER virtual, unless I absolutely say so. D knows nothing about the class hierarchy when generating code, I don't know how it can make that claim? Anything that's not private can be extended by another module, and only the linker could ever know out about that. Aside from that, I want a compile error if someone tries to randomly override stuff. virtuals are a heinous crime, and should only be used explicitly. It should not be possible for someone to accidentally create a virtual.
