Swift Delight: Names for Generic Parameters
Swift delight: names for generic parameters
— Jordan Rose (@UINT_MIN) October 15, 2021
This is about the library and API guidelines, not the core language, but that’s also important when designing a language. The standard library is where people look to pattern their own code.
Part of the Swift Regrets series.
This is about the library and API guidelines, not the core language, but that’s also important when designing a language. The standard library is where people look to pattern their own code.
To be honest, I don’t remember at this point what made us go this direction, but I think it was associated types. Why have Array<T>
with typealias Element = T
when you can just say Array<Element>
?
It’s not perfect; sometimes you get non-nouns (Optional<Wrapped>
) or made-up words (UnsafePointer<Pointee>
). But I still think this is way better than T
and U
everywhere, especially when it comes to prose. You’re gonna talk about the “element type” anyway, not “T”.