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Postings from January 2022
I support your proposal. -- Darren Duncan
On 2022-01-17 3:34 a.m., Dave Mitchell wrote:
> I propose that a sort with no physical arguments should be made
> a compile-time error for 5.36:
>
> @a = sort; # currently equivalent to @a = (); would become compile error
>
> @empty = (); @a = sort @empty # unaffected
>
> I suspect that this usage is exceedingly rare in real code, and if present
> represents a thinko.
>
> The advantage of making it a compile-time error (and thus flushing out any
> remaining uses of it) is that it then allows for the possibility at some
> future time of adding an attribute-like syntax to sort.
>
> At the moment, in:
>
> @a = $cond ? sort : ....;
>
> the colon is interpreted as part of the ternary conditional operator. I
> would like to open up the possibility in the future of the colon being
> interpreted instead as part of the sort syntax, introducing some sort of
> attribute. For example (hypothetically):
>
> sort :num 4,3,5;
>
> says to sort numerically. Or perhaps to introduce an inline sub:
>
> sort :sub ($x,$y) { $x <= $y } 4,3,5
>
> or whatever.
>
> The important thing is that I don't want to start a long discussion (yet)
> about HOW the new syntax could be used; I just want to get quick agreement
> that by banning empty sorts ASAP we free up the syntax space for use in a
> few releases' time.
>
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