Ignoring loop indices is not possible in bracket loops about chapel HOT 3 CLOSED

I'm definitely open to that argument, but before we jump into it: Note that, currently, the standalone underscore isn't allowed in for-loops either. That is,

for _ in 1..10 do writeln("Hi!");

also generates a syntax error. I believe that the original intention was that _ was for dropping tuple elements on the ground since one could write the for loop as:

for 1..10 do writeln("Hi!");

and the square bracket form as:

  private var globalBarrier = [BarrierSpace] new unmanaged aBarrier(1, reusable=true, procAtomics=true, hackIntoCommBarrier=true);

(which shows how square bracket syntax and array declarations are really just type vs. value variations of the same thing).

So, I think what we currently have is consistent and reasonable, but that there's a question as to whether we'd want to extend both cases to support a standalone _ as well. Upside: Maybe _ in is clearer than just omitting it? Downside: two ways to write the same thing.

An intermediate approach would be to replace the syntax error with a suggestion to just drop the _ in expression.

from chapel.

I hadn't considered that. For some reason, I was perfectly happy removing the index from for loops (and did it without trying _), but went for _ in bracket loops. There might be something to be said there about "intuitiveness" but probably it's just that I've seen no-in for loops, but not no-in bracket loops. I'm content with your answer and would be good with closing the issue, unless others want to continue the discussion.

from chapel.

No complaints then. Closing 😄

from chapel.