I have a hard time believing that std.string.capwords or std.string.captitalize are actually used much. It just doesn't seem to me like they would be generally useful functions. They're far too specific in what they do and aren't flexible enough. And if they're not pulling their own weight, then they should be removed from std.string. So, the question is:

Is there anyone on the newsgroup here who actually uses std.string.capwords or std.string.capitalize? And if you do, do you use them often?

- Jonathan M Davis

On 6/13/11 4:23 AM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> I have a hard time believing that std.string.capwords or
> std.string.captitalize are actually used much. It just doesn't seem to me like
> they would be generally useful functions. They're far too specific in what
> they do and aren't flexible enough. And if they're not pulling their own
> weight, then they should be removed from std.string. So, the question is:
>
> Is there anyone on the newsgroup here who actually uses std.string.capwords or
> std.string.capitalize? And if you do, do you use them often?
>
> - Jonathan M Davis

These are not very D-like, and indeed so: they're part of Walter's experiment to include string functions from other string-savvy languages into Phobos1. These two particular functions are Python's:

http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/programming/python/0201616165/working-with-strings/ch10lev1sec2

It doesn't seem like the experiment was a success. To answer your question, I wouldn't shed a tear if these functions were gone.

Andrei

Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> Is there anyone on the newsgroup here who actually uses
> std.string.capwords or std.string.capitalize?
> And if you do, do you use them often?

I use capitalize from time to time. It seems to work well enough.


Is there really a need to break people's code every other day just because a random function doesn't do everything perfectly? Fixing bugs is one thing, but removing functionality is another.

At some point, Phobos devs need to realize that people actually *use* D.

On 6/13/11, Adam D. Ruppe <destructionator@gmail.com> wrote:
> Jonathan M Davis wrote:
>> Is there anyone on the newsgroup here who actually uses
>> std.string.capwords or std.string.capitalize?
>> And if you do, do you use them often?
>
> I use capitalize from time to time. It seems to work well enough.
>
>
> Is there really a need to break people's code every other day just because a random function doesn't do everything perfectly? Fixing bugs is one thing, but removing functionality is another.
>
> At some point, Phobos devs need to realize that people actually *use* D.
>

And some of them probably don't even post here!

I'm not sure what removing these two functions buys anyone?

On 2011-06-13 07:07, Adam D. Ruppe wrote:
> Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> > Is there anyone on the newsgroup here who actually uses
> > std.string.capwords or std.string.capitalize?
> > And if you do, do you use them often?
> 
> I use capitalize from time to time. It seems to work well enough.
> 
> 
> Is there really a need to break people's code every other day just because a random function doesn't do everything perfectly? Fixing bugs is one thing, but removing functionality is another.
> 
> At some point, Phobos devs need to realize that people actually *use* D.

Which is why I'm asking rather than just yanking them. Just because _I_ don't find them useful doesn't mean that others don't. If people actually use them, then there's reason to keep them. But there are a number of functions in std.string which at least _look_ like their of limited usefulness, and if they're really not used, then they shouldn't be there. However, if they really _are_ used, then getting rid of them would be a bad idea. So, I'm asking whether anyone uses them.

- Jonathan M Davis

It looks like people have reimplemented capitalize in some libs:

D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\utils\CT.d:25:pragma(ctfe) char[]
capitalize(char[] name) {
D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\MiniD.d:51:pragma(ctfe) private
char[] capitalizeFirst(char[] str) {
D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\MiniD.d:62:	return "set" ~
capitalizeFirst(name);
D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\Utils.d:25:pragma(ctfe) char[]
capitalize(char[] name) {

And I found a match here:
D:\dev\lib\D\enticesource\plugins.d:2317:		s = std.string.capitalize(s);

I've found no match for capwords though.

On 2011-06-13 08:50, Andrej Mitrovic wrote:
> It looks like people have reimplemented capitalize in some libs:
> 
> D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\utils\CT.d:25:pragma(ctfe) char[]
> capitalize(char[] name) {
> D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\MiniD.d:51:pragma(ctfe) private
> char[] capitalizeFirst(char[] str) {
> D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\MiniD.d:62:	return "set" ~
> capitalizeFirst(name);
> D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\Utils.d:25:pragma(ctfe) char[]
> capitalize(char[] name) {
> 
> And I found a match here:
> D:\dev\lib\D\enticesource\plugins.d:2317:		s =
std.string.capitalize(s);
> 
> I've found no match for capwords though.

Well, capwords is not something you're likely to find implementations of by grepping, since the name has a good chance of being different. But regardless, I find it much easier to believe that someone is using capitalize than capwords, particularly since capitalize is a building block of capwords.

- Jonathan M Davis

On 2011-06-13 08:56, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> On 2011-06-13 08:50, Andrej Mitrovic wrote:
> > It looks like people have reimplemented capitalize in some libs:
> > 
> > D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\utils\CT.d:25:pragma(ctfe) char[]
> > capitalize(char[] name) {
> > D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\MiniD.d:51:pragma(ctfe) private
> > char[] capitalizeFirst(char[] str) {
> > D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\MiniD.d:62:	return "set" ~
> > capitalizeFirst(name);
> > D:\dev\lib\D\boxen\src\xf\xpose2\Utils.d:25:pragma(ctfe) char[]
> > capitalize(char[] name) {
> > 
> > And I found a match here:
> > D:\dev\lib\D\enticesource\plugins.d:2317:		s =
> 
> std.string.capitalize(s);
> 
> > I've found no match for capwords though.
> 
> Well, capwords is not something you're likely to find implementations of by grepping, since the name has a good chance of being different. But regardless, I find it much easier to believe that someone is using capitalize than capwords, particularly since capitalize is a building block of capwords.

In any case, thanks for finding some evidence that capitalize is actually being used.

- Jonathan M Davis

On 6/13/11, Jonathan M Davis <jmdavisProg@gmx.com> wrote:
> Well, capwords is not something you're likely to find implementations of by
> grepping, since the name has a good chance of being different. But
> regardless,
> I find it much easier to believe that someone is using capitalize than
> capwords, particularly since capitalize is a building block of capwords.

Agreed. You can already use a mix of split() and capitalize(), so
capwords might be a good candidate to remove.

Jonathan M Davis:

> But there are a number of functions in std.string which at least _look_ like their of limited usefulness, and if they're really not used, then they shouldn't be there.

What functions?

(I think in Python I have used capitalize only once so far.)

Bye,
bearophile