Re: New VSI post on Youtube

On 2024-08-25 02:04:30 +0000, Arne Vajhøj said:

On 8/24/2024 9:33 PM, Stephen Hoffman wrote:

On 2024-08-20 12:36:51 +0000, Simon Clubley said:

One thing I wish was available in all languages is the ability to return multiple values from a function call so you can return both a status and the value(s) in one assignment. Ie: "a, b, c = demo_function(param1, param2);".
 In languages with dynamic associative arrays (such as PHP), I simulate this by returning an associative array from a function call with both status and value fields. Makes coding _so_ much cleaner and robust.

 For those following along at home, C supports returning a struct.
 Languages including Swift allow returning an "optional", where you either get a value such as an object, or an indication or its absence. Swift uses the concept of "unwrapping" a result marked optional, which means you have to check before access.
 Returning objects is more widely available, and hides a lot of this mess, as well as hiding dealing with potentially-larger data buffers. Objects and message-passing is akin to itemlist-based APIs, dragged forward a few decades.
 In other languages, support for an optional requires explicit code, whether that might return a struct, or might return a value and a sentinel, or ilk.

 I don't know Swift but I will assume Swift optional is similar to optional in other languages.
 It solves the return both status and value problem. But it is not a general multiple return value solution. And it is really just a small evolution of the traditional "return null indicate an error".

That would be a Swift function that returns an object whether optional or not, or a function that returns multiple values whether optional or not.
https://docs.swift.org/swift-book/documentation/the-swift-programming-language/functions/ The optional makes the developer's intent clear, and makes for less glue code.
There are things I don't like about Swift, not the least of which is being a moving target.
ObjC can return a null object, which is a somewhat different approach to this particular mess. Being built on C, ObjC can also return a struct.
Objects and message passing and the CLR and NET, etc., are all different approaches toward the decoupling that itemlists and related baggage were intended to provide.
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