Proposal - Enforce Unambiguity

[sa-tasche]

Enforce Unambiguity

Unambiguity¹ makes it easier to understand a programming language.

Therefore, all macros / functions that work differently than expected (as those without a prefix) must be marked with a prefix; and for those that do not require a prefix, it must be forbidden.

This makes it easier to understand when a prefix is required and makes it easier to remember functions and macros (and their names), as there is no need to think about whether this function/macro was or must be defined with or without a prefix.

Footnotes

1. Fix discrepancies in std modules #1662 ↩

[lerno]

1. Only macros may have the @ prefix
2. It's mandatory if it behaves in a "non-function" way.
3. It's permitted to add @ for macros that are safe. This is to allow macros to be highlighted as potentially "dangerous" even though it is satisfying the "function-like" behaviour. One such reason is if the macro is intended for constant folding and only uses a type:

macro usz alignof($Type)
{
  return $Type.alignof;
}

In this case, the code is guaranteed to constant fold, and this might be unexpected, so @alignof is better for the user, although not mandatory. I think I have one (1) macro like that in the stdlib.