Uniform function call syntax: Difference between revisions

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'''Uniform Function Call Syntax''' ('''UFCS''') or sometimes '''Universal Function Call Syntax''' is a [[programming language]] feature in [[D (programming language)|D]], [[Rust (programming language)|Rust]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/first-edition/ufcs.html|title=Universal Function Call Syntax - The Rust Programming Language|website=Doc.rust-lang.org|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref> and [[Nim (programming language)|Nim]] that allows any [[function (computer programming)|function]] to be called

{{primary sources|date=September 2017}}

using the syntax for method calls (as in [[object-oriented programming]]), by using the [[receiver (object oriented programming)|receiver]] as the first parameter, and the given arguments as the remaining parameters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dlang.org/function.html#pseudo-member|title=Functions - D Programming Language|website=Dlang.org|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref> UFCS is particularly useful when function calls are chained<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ddili.org/ders/d.en/ufcs.html|title=Programming in D - Universal Function Call Syntax (UFCS)|website=Ddili.org|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref> (behaving similar to [[Pipe (computer science)|pipe]]s, or the various dedicated [[Operator (computer programming)|operator]]s available in [[functional language]]s for passing values through a series of [[Expression (computer science)|expression]]s). It allows free-functions to fill a role similar to [[extension method]]s in some other languages. Another benefit of the method call syntax is use with "[[dot-autocomplete]]" in [[IDE (computing)|IDE]]s, which use type information to show a list of available functions, dependent on the context. When the programmer starts with an argument, the set of potentially applicable functions is greatly narrowed down,<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title="Unified Call Syntax"|url=https://isocpp.org/files/papers/N4165.pdf|format=PDF|website=Isocpp.org|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref>, aiding discoverability.

'''Uniform Function Call Syntax''' ('''UFCS''') or sometimes '''Universal Function Call Syntax''' is a [[programming language]] feature in [[D (programming language)|D]], [[Rust (programming language)|Rust]]<ref>https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/first-edition/ufcs.html</ref> and [[Nim (programming language)|Nim]] that allows any [[function (computer programming)|function]] to be called

using the syntax for method calls (as in [[object-oriented programming]]), by using the [[receiver (object oriented programming)|receiver]] as the first parameter, and the given arguments as the remaining parameters.<ref>http://dlang.org/function.html#pseudo-member</ref> UFCS is particularly useful when function calls are chained<ref>http://ddili.org/ders/d.en/ufcs.html</ref> (behaving similar to [[Pipe (computer science)|pipe]]s, or the various dedicated [[Operator (computer programming)|operator]]s available in [[functional language]]s for passing values through a series of [[Expression (computer science)|expression]]s). It allows free-functions to fill a role similar to [[extension method]]s in some other languages. Another benefit of the method call syntax is use with "[[dot-autocomplete]]" in [[IDE (computing)|IDE]]s, which use type information to show a list of available functions, dependent on the context. When the programmer starts with an argument, the set of potentially applicable functions is greatly narrowed down<ref>{{cite web|title="Unified Call Syntax"|url=https://isocpp.org/files/papers/N4165.pdf}}</ref>, aiding discoverability.

== C++ proposal ==

It has been proposed (as of 2016) for addition to C++ by [[Bjarne Stroustrup]]<ref>{{cite web|title="UFCS proposal"|url=http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2014/n4174.pdf|format=PDF|website=Open-std.org|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref> and [[Herb Sutter]]<ref>{{cite web|titlename="Unified Call Syntaxauto"|url=https://isocpp.org/files/papers/N4165.pdf}}</ref>, to reduce the ambiguous decision between writing [[free function (c++)|free function]]s and member functions, to simplify the writing of [[generic programming|templated code]]. Many programmers are tempted to write member functions to get the benefits of the member function syntax (e.g. "[[dot-autocomplete]]" to list [[member function]]s);<ref>{{cite web|title=using intellisense|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hcw1s69b.aspx|website=Msdn.microsoft.com|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref>); however, this leads to excessive [[Coupling (computer programming)|coupling]] between [[Class (computer programming)|classes]].<ref>{{cite web|title="How Non-Member Functions improve encapsulation|url=http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/how-non-member-functions-improve-encapsu/184401197|website=Drdobbs.com|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref>.

== Examples ==

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== See also ==

* [[trait (computer programming)]]

* [[interface (computer programming)]]

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* [[Duck typing]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}