From: zverok.offline@... Date: 2019-12-30T12:07:49+00:00 Subject: [ruby-core:96592] [Ruby master Feature#16460] External names for keyword parameters in method definitions Issue #16460 has been updated by zverok (Victor Shepelev). @harrisonb I don't feel like I can add anything substantial to what I've already said. Just two clarifications: 1. If something in my comments has sounded angrily/mockingly/disrespectful, I am genuinely sorry. It was not my intention to mock you or your ideas, so "Ugh what"s and similar stuff was only intended as a comical demonstration how I am trying to picture the imaginary programmer reading the code (to better showcase my understanding of the problem, not to show how yours are "dumb" or something!) 2. The (almost) only thing I was trying to say is: new features and ideas are necessary, but (it is my feeling, at least) but the core of any proposal is how it will play with the rest of the syntax, previous intuitions and habits (for ex., the whole pattern matching thing was designed with introduction of only one keyword, reusing the ways of structuring code that exist in other places in Ruby and "feel normal" to Ruby devs) ---------------------------------------- Feature #16460: External names for keyword parameters in method definitions https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/16460#change-83559 * Author: harrisonb (Harrison Bachrach) * Status: Open * Priority: Normal * Assignee: * Target version: ---------------------------------------- Hello! This is my first time filing an issue and I was unable to find anything similar. I apologize if one already exists. In other languages (such as JavaScript, Swift, and Crystal), it is possible to have two names for a given keyword argument: one that is used in method invocation, and one used in the method definition. Here is an example from Crystal (which has syntax very similar to Ruby): ```crystal def increment(value, by amount) value + amount end increment(value: 5, by: 10) ``` This helps create more readable method invocations and definitions. It would be especially helpful in Ruby as the language lacks a destructuring syntax for hashes/keyword args. This is unlike JavaScript, where you can do something like: ```javascript const { nameOfOneProperty: newNameForTheProperty, nameOfAnotherProperty: newNameForTheOtherProperty } = foo; ``` where `foo` is a JavaScript Object that has the properties `nameOfOneProperty` or `nameOfAnotherProperty` (If it did not have either of them, the corresponding identifiers (newNameForTheProperty and newNameForTheOtherProperty would be initialized to undefined). I'm thinking that such a change would pair nicely with the new 3.0 keyword argument changes. Others have suggested that this could also be helpful if the keyword params collide with reserved keywords in Ruby, e.g.: ```ruby def reserve_appointment(when:) Appointment.create(time: when) #=> SyntaxError: unexpected `when', expecting `end' end ``` Currently, one must use `local_variable_get` to get around this issue, e.g.: ```ruby def reserve_appointment(when:) time = local_variable_get(:when) Appointment.create(time: time) end ``` --- ## Syntax options: 1. No arrow syntax (original proposal) ```ruby def name(external_name internal_name: default_value) # ... end # Example def move(from source: 'src/', to destination: 'dist/', at time:) # ... end ``` 1. Infix arrow syntax ```ruby def name(external_name => internal_name: default_value) # ... end # Example def move(from => source: 'src/', to => destination: 'dist/', at => time:) # ... end ``` 1. Postfix arrow syntax (suggested by zverok (Victor Shepelev)) ```ruby def name(external_name: default_value => internal_name) # ... end # Example def move(from: 'src/' => source, to: 'dist/' => destination, at: => time) # ... end ``` -- https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/ Unsubscribe: