On 9 April 2012 03:21, Andrej Mitrovic <andrej.mitrovich@gmail.com> wrote:

On 4/9/12, Andrei Alexandrescu <SeeWebsiteForEmail@erdani.org> wrote:
> and pass-by-alias

Speaking of alias, one killer feature would be to enable using alias
for expressions. E.g.:

struct Window { struct Point { int x, y; } Point point; }
void test() {
Window window;
alias window.point.x x;
// use 'x' here which is really window.point.x
}

It makes it simpler to manipulate nested structs and their fields by
reference without involving pointers or using with statements. AFAIK
C++ can use references for this purpose (ala &int x =
window.point.x;), but I guess this isn't very efficient unless the
compiler can optimize it.

I can't think of many cases where the compiler can't optimise it when used in the context you describe.

Besides myself I've also seen other people request it (I think Nick S.
wanted the feature).

I do also get a little annoyed having to use pointers in this situation. At least they don't suffer a different dereference syntax like C, but it does seem a bit flimsy that they can be reassigned, can also be null, and I have to involve the & operator, which can often lead to parentheses spam.