[fpc-pascal] for..in loops?

[Jonas Maebe]

On 20 Nov 2005, at 10:57, Marco van de Voort wrote:

>> Would it be hard for the compiler to try to automatically convert
>> this new construct into an equivalent older one? .. So when it finds
>>
>> for S in ArrayOfInteger do ...
>>
>> it silently converts it to
>>
>> for i := 0 to {Count} do
>>   begin
>>     S := ArrayOfInteger[i];
>>     ...
>>
>> ?  I don't know enough about the internals to know how hard it is to
>> know the limits of the array and the type...
>
> It would require special tailored code for each type. (normal  
> arrays, open
> arrays, dynarrays, pchars (length) etc etc)

All the arrays would be handled the same. The compiler can just  
generate low() and high() nodes, and those will automatically do the  
right thing.

Since a pchar is not an array but a pointer to a (possibly null- 
terminated) array, whether or not that construct supports pchars  
would be a separate decision.


Jonas