On 14/09/2020 19:41, Michael Van Canneyt via fpc-devel wrote:
Better add an additional (optional) parameter SkipInit : Boolean = False;
Michael.
That won't work because constructs such as "var Data: array of array of
Byte; SetLength(Data, 25, 25);" are allowed. Eevn if it's technically
an intrinsic and the compiler can have customised handling, I think it
will cause too much confusion to have an optional Boolean parameter like
that. Also, it might cause unnecessary additional overhead since it
wastes a register to pass the Boolean value that, in most cases, is
equal to False (implicitly or otherwise).
Finally, the fact it's a parameter implies that you can use a
(non-deterministic) variable as an actual parameter, which is logically
something that should never have a practical application in this case;
i.e. why should initialising the data to zeroes be undecided at
run-time? Surely you, the programmer, know what you're going to do with
that data block.
I understand there's a risk of it breaking existing code should a unit
have a subroutine with the name "SetLengthNoInit", although long names
with multiple words reduces this risk, and if there is a clash, doesn't
the compiler prioritise the subroutine defined in the unit? Should you
want to use the internal "SetLengthNoInit" in this case, you will need
to call "System.SetLengthNoInit", right?
Gareth aka. Kit
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