func optional parameters suggestion ...

[JoeCool]

Currently passing optional parameters is by value ... so copying alot of arrays is not fun sometime...

I will love to have something like this (optional byref parameter )

With the current syntax ...(the last parameter could be byref and optional)

func blah( $x, byref $a, byref $b = 0)

...

endfunc

Passing no value is not more difficult than before, I guess ...

Passing something byref is just passing a pointer(of some sort on the stack)....

(we need to deal with initiazation to something not 0)

Better solution will be to have a opt specifier ...

func blah( $x, byref $a, opt byref $b , opt $c = 22 )

...

endfunc

because initializing byref var (a pointer) to something can be dangerous ...

func blah( $x, byref $a, byref $b = 0x1231)

;not good

endfunc

what do you thing .... it can be pretty useful I think

Edited February 23, 2013 by JoeCool

[PhoenixXL]

What is the point of defining a byRef Variable which is defined by the function itself ?

Can't we do it likewise

Local $a = 1, $b = 'a'

Func Test( ByRef $iParam )
;Can make the ByRef Param Optional
If Not $iParam Then $iParam = 1
EndFunc

Test( $a )
MsgBox( 0, 0, $a )
Test( $b )
MsgBox( 0, 0, $b )

Edited February 23, 2013 by PhoenixXL

[Richard Robertson]

Arrays are copy on write, meaning they exist as a reference to the original until you change it. It won't be copied just because it was passed by value.

[water]

Thanks! Learned something new today

[JoeCool]

Arrays are copy on write, meaning they exist as a reference to the original until you change it. It won't be copied just because it was passed by value.

 

ok then, so base on your comments could you suggest to remove completly byreference parameter,  'cause there is not gain to have it  lol  it will lead to a less complicated language to maintain !!!

but ...  i'm still thinking,  we should have   optional byreference paramaters  in function definition ....

Edited May 14, 2013 by JoeCool

[BrewManNH]

ok then, so base on your comments could you suggest to remove completly byreference parameter,  'cause there is not gain to have it  lol  it will lead to a less complicated language to maintain !!!

but ...  i'm still thinking,  we should have   optional byreference paramaters  in function definition ....

What makes you think he said anything that would suggest making ByRef invalid to use? There's plenty of "gain" to having it, for one, it saves memory when passing large arrays ByRef.

[JoeCool]

What makes you think he said anything that would suggest making ByRef invalid to use? There's plenty of "gain" to having it, for one, it saves memory when passing large arrays ByRef.

 

duh ! and it is my exact first message,  why not extend a bit the language to have   optional byreference paramaters  in function definition .?????...

[Richard Robertson]

What makes you think he said anything that would suggest making ByRef invalid to use? There's plenty of "gain" to having it, for one, it saves memory when passing large arrays ByRef.

No, it uses the same memory until you attempt to write to the array. That's what copy-on-write is.

You are correct that I didn't say it was invalid, but I did say it was unnecessary.

Edited May 14, 2013 by Richard Robertson

[guinness]

For arrays?

[Richard Robertson]

Yes. Valik said that they are implemented as copy-on-write. I tend to trust things he said about internals of AutoIt.

[guinness]

I remember Valik saying that too, but someone (not me) might read your post as you declaring (no pun intended) that ByRef is unnecessary for any variable type, as I don't believe strings have the same approach with copy-on-write. Though I could be wrong as I don't have access to the source code.

[annaharris]

Yes, Passing optional parameters by reference is pretty useful. Thanks.

[James]

I like the way JavaScript handles optional arguments. If it's not declared, it's undefined, which lets you do things like this:
 

function jsArgs(el, opts, callback) {
    if(typeof opts === "function") callback = opts; // callback is optional
 
    // Now el is a required field.
    if(typeof el === "undefined") return new Error("jsArgs requires one or more parameters.");
 
    var $el = 0; // This would be funky.
 
    if(typeof opts === "function") callback($el)
};

The real good thing is that errors aren't thrown if you call the function without any parameters, it's up to the developer to ensure error handling is done properly.

Edited May 14, 2013 by James