Are D invariants supposed to be so "relaxed"? They don't get called with default constructors:


struct Foo {
    int x = 0;
    this(int xx) { this.x = xx; }
    invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
}
struct Bar {
    int x = 0;
    invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
}
class CFoo {
    int x = 0;
    this(int xx) { this.x = xx; }
    invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
}
class CBar {
    int x = 0;
    invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
}
void main() {
    Foo f1;                  // no asserts
    Foo f2 = Foo();          // no asserts
    // Foo f3 = Foo(0);      // asserts, good

    Bar b1;                  // no asserts
    Bar b2 = Bar();          // no asserts
    Bar b3 = Bar(0);         // no asserts

    //assert(b3);            // can't be used
    // b3.__invariant();     // asserts

    //CFoo f3 = new CFoo(0); // asserts, good

    CBar cb2 = new CBar();   // no asserts
    //assert(cb2);           // asserts, good
}


Bye,
bearophile

On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:29:27 -0400, bearophile <bearophileHUGS@lycos.com> wrote:

> Are D invariants supposed to be so "relaxed"? They don't get called with default constructors:
>
>
> struct Foo {
>     int x = 0;
>     this(int xx) { this.x = xx; }
>     invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
> }
> struct Bar {
>     int x = 0;
>     invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
> }
> class CFoo {
>     int x = 0;
>     this(int xx) { this.x = xx; }
>     invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
> }
> class CBar {
>     int x = 0;
>     invariant() { assert(x == 1); }
> }
> void main() {
>     Foo f1;                  // no asserts
>     Foo f2 = Foo();          // no asserts
>     // Foo f3 = Foo(0);      // asserts, good
>
>     Bar b1;                  // no asserts
>     Bar b2 = Bar();          // no asserts
>     Bar b3 = Bar(0);         // no asserts
>
>     //assert(b3);            // can't be used
>     // b3.__invariant();     // asserts
>
>     //CFoo f3 = new CFoo(0); // asserts, good
>
>     CBar cb2 = new CBar();   // no asserts
>     //assert(cb2);           // asserts, good
> }

Default construction for structs is a weird animal in D.  A struct can always be default constructed and is always initialized to s.init.  This allows you to construct for instance an array of structs with simple memory copying.

During default struct construction, no constructors are run (they aren't allowed anyways) and no invariants are run.  What would be the point of running an invariant during default construction?  The only think it could possibly do is make code like this:

S s;

Fail without -release, and pass with -release.  I don't see the value in that.

-Steve

Steven Schveighoffer:
> During default struct construction, no constructors are run (they aren't
> allowed anyways) and no invariants are run.  What would be the point of
> running an invariant during default construction?  The only think it could
> possibly do is make code like this:
> S s;
> Fail without -release, and pass with -release.  I don't see the value in
> that.

Thank you for your answers, I was trying to understand.
Of all the examples I have shown this can be the worst:


struct Foo {
    int x;
    invariant() { assert(x > 0); }
}
void main() {
    Foo f = Foo(-10);
}

Here I'd like the compiler to assert (at compile time or at runtime), or to refuse an invariant in structs like that, where I think D has no way to enforce it (unless you call __invariant(), but this is silly).
Later I can write a "bug" report about this.

Bye,
bearophile

Steven Schveighoffer <schveiguy@yahoo.com> wrote:
> During default struct construction, no constructors are run (they aren't allowed anyways) and no invariants are run.  What would be the point of running an invariant during default construction?  The only think it could possibly do is make code like this:
>
> S s;
>
> Fail without -release, and pass with -release.  I don't see the value in that.

Ah, but I do. If it is an error to create an uninitialized struct of
type S, then the above code is a bug, is it not?

-- 
Simen

On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:58:28 -0400, Simen kjaeraas <simen.kjaras@gmail.com> wrote:

> Steven Schveighoffer <schveiguy@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> During default struct construction, no constructors are run (they aren't allowed anyways) and no invariants are run.  What would be the point of running an invariant during default construction?  The only think it could possibly do is make code like this:
>>
>> S s;
>>
>> Fail without -release, and pass with -release.  I don't see the value in that.
>
> Ah, but I do. If it is an error to create an uninitialized struct of
> type S, then the above code is a bug, is it not?

Yes, but an invariant doesn't guarantee that, since it is non-existent in release mode, and a compile time error is better.

What you want is to be able to disable the default constructor.  Andrei has hinted it might be a future improvement on other threads.

-Steve

Steven Schveighoffer:
> What you want is to be able to disable the default constructor.  Andrei has hinted it might be a future improvement on other threads.

It's a good idea. I just hope this disabling will have an explicit & readable syntax (maybe @disable can be used here).

Bye,
bearophile

http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=4331

bearophile wrote:
> Are D invariants supposed to be so "relaxed"? They don't get called with default constructors:
<snip>

http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=519

Stewart.

Stewart Gordon:
> http://d.puremagic.com/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=519

Thank you, then my bug 4329 is a dupe, I'll mark it so :-)

Bye,
bearophile