[fpc-devel] Language semantic suggesion regarding static methods

[J. Gareth Moreton]

Fair enough.  Thanks Sven.  It just seemed to be a bit of an anomaly in 
my eyes.  (The ambiguity shouldn't be an issue because of the semicolon 
following directives)

Just something I thought I'd bring up.

Gareth aka. Kit


On 22/10/2019 06:17, Sven Barth via fpc-devel wrote:
> Am 22.10.2019 um 01:19 schrieb J. Gareth Moreton:
>> This is a very low-level semantic issue, but I'm not particularly 
>> keen on how static methods are defined in classes. 
>
> Not being "keen" on an existing, established syntax is not reason 
> enough to change it.
>
> Please also note (to probably annoy you further) that static methods 
> inside records use exactly the same syntax. ;)
>
>> *static function *StaticMethod: Integer;
>>
>> ****
>>
>> For backward compatibility, I would suggest keeping the 'static' 
>> directive for class methods so existing code doesn't break, but maybe 
>> mark it as deprecated.
>>
> This would introduce ambiguity especially with keeping the original 
> syntax:
>
> === code begin ===
>
> class function Foo: Integer; static;
> function SomethingElse;
>
> vs.
>
> class function Foo: Integer;
> static function SomethingElse;
>
> === code end ===
>
> The static directive is - like all other directives - parsed by 
> parse_proc_directives and it would consume the "static" token in both 
> cases. Then it would need to check for the existance of a "function" 
> or "procedure" token and pass that up it's call change. There are 
> places in the parser where this is indeed done, but adjusting the 
> parser that much for *no* gain is not something we like to do.
>
>> P.S. If I've missed something obvious as to why static methods are 
>> implemented using a directive, please educate me!
> Simple: Delphi compatibility.
>
> Regards,
> Sven
>
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