On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 4:48 AM, Anthony Ferrara <ircmax...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Stan, > > On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 3:57 AM, Stan Vass <sv_for...@fmethod.com> wrote: > > > Hi! > >> > >> I agree with you. The one case where this syntax may be very useful is > if > >>> we want to implement class casting. So introduce a pair of magic > methods > >>> > >> > >> I do not think we want to implement class casting. I'm not sure how > >> class casting even makes sense - if the object is of one class, how can > >> you just make it into another class by casting? If you mean "casting" > >> actually returns another object of different class, then just make a > >> method for that that returns that object, I do not see how obscuring the > >> purpose of this operation with unobvious syntax would help. > >> > > > > The discussion is starting to drift very far from my original proposal. > > > > Instead of trying to guess what I mean, can't people just refer to my > very > > simple definitive proposed behavior? > > > > My point was that what I posted was the only way that I can see for the > original proposal to be useful. > > Anthony > Though I'm clearly in the minority on this, I for one think this proposal does have more merit than is being argued. There seems to be general agreement all around that this would provide a benefit as it pertains to code readability-- Not just by humans, but theoretically by doc/etc parsers as well. This is where we get into arbitrary, subjective territory. To me, that benefit in and of itself is sufficient to warrant this feature. To many of you, it is not enough. The tie-breaker for me is the fact that, though the benefits are modest, there's really no noticeable cost, either. The argument seems to, essentially, break down as follows: "This feature isn't worth our time." .... "Yes, it is!" .... "No, it isn't." There is clearly demand for this feature, even though its usefulness would be modest. Since it really wouldn't harm the language to just add it (if done correctly of course), my thinking is that we should just go ahead and add it. If nothing else, one benefit that hasn't been mentioned is the reduced traffic on Internals due to people no longer asking for it. ;) Just my three-and-a-half cents (damn inflation!). --Kris
