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0308-postfix-if-config-expressions.md

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#if for postfix member expressions

Introduction

Swift has conditional compilation block #if ... #endif which allows code to be conditionally compiled depending on the value of one or more compilation conditions. Currently, unlike #if in C family languages, the body of each clause must surround complete statements. However, in some cases, especially in result builder contexts, demand for applying #if to partial expressions has emerged. This proposal expands #if ... #endif to be able to surround postfix member expressions.

Motivation

For example, when you have some SwiftUI code like this:

VStack {
  Text("something")
#if os(iOS)
    .iOSSpecificModifier()
#endif
    .commonModifier()
}

This doesn’t parse today, so you end up having to do something like:

VStack {
  let basicView = Text("something")
#if os(iOS)
  basicView
    .iOSSpecificModifier()
    .commonModifier()
#else
  basicView
    .commonModifier()
#endif
}

which is ugly and has duplicated .commonModifier(). If you want to eliminate the duplication:

VStack {
  let basicView = Text("something")
#if os(iOS)
  let tmpView = basicView.iOSSpecificModifier()
#else
  let tmpView = basicView
#endif
  tmpView.commonModifier()
}

...which is even uglier.

Proposed solution

This proposal expands #if functionality to postfix member expressions. For example, in the following example:

baseExpr
#if CONDITION
  .someOptionalMember?
  .someMethod()
#else
  .otherMember
#endif

If CONDITION evaluates to true, the expression is parsed as

baseExpr
  .someOptionalMember?
  .someMethod()

Otherwise, it’s parsed as

baseExpr
  .otherMember

Detailed design

Grammar changes

This proposal adds postfix-ifconfig-expression to postfix-expression. postfix-ifconfig-expression is a postfix-expression followed by a #if ... #endif clause.

+ postfix-expression → postfix-ifconfig-expression
+ postfix-ifconfig-expression → postfix-expression conditional-compilation-block

postfix-ifconfig-expression is parsed only if the body of the #if clause starts with a period (.) followed by a identifier, a keyword or an integer-literal. For example:

// OK
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMethod()
#else
  .otherMethod()
#endif

But the following is not a postfix-ifconfig-expression because it does not start with .. In such cases, #if ... #endif is not considered a part of the expression, but is parsed as a normal compiler control statement.

// ERROR
baseExpr      // warning: expression of type 'BaseExpr' is unused.
#if CONDITION
  { $0 + 1  } // error: closure expression is unused
#endif

baseExpr      // warning: expression of type 'BaseExpr' is unused.
#if CONDITION
  + otherExpr // error: unary operator cannot be separated from its operand
#endif

Also, the body must not contain any other characters after the expression.

// ERROR
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMethod()

print("debug") // error: unexpected tokens in '#if' expression body
#endif

Expression kind inside #if/#elseif/#else body

There are several kinds of postfix expressions in Swift grammar.

  • initializer expression
  • postfix self expression
  • explicit member expression
  • function call expression
  • subscript expression
  • forced value expression
  • optional chaining expression
  • postfix operator expression

The body of a postfix #if expression must start with an explicit member expression, initializer expression, or postfix self expression (that is, the suffixes that begin with .). Once started this way, you can continue the expression with any other postfix expression suffixes. For example:

// OK
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMember?.otherMethod()![idx]++
#else
  .otherMethod(arg) {
    //...
  }
#endif

However, you cannot continue the expression within the #if with non-postfix suffixes. For example, you cannot continue it with a binary operator, because a binary expression is not a postfix expression:

// ERROR
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMethod() + 12 // error: unexpected tokens in '#if' expression body
#endif

Starting with other postfix expression suffixes besides those beginning with . is not allowed because this would be ambiguous with starting a new statement. These suffixes are generally required to start on the same line as the base expression.

#elseif/#else body

While the body of the #if clause must begin with ., the body of any #elseif or #else clauses can be empty.

// OK
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMethod()
#elseif CONDITION_2
  // OK. Do nothing.
#endif

If the clause is not empty, then it has the same requirements as the #if clause: it must begin with a postfix expression suffix starting with ., it may not continue into a non-postfix expression, and it must not contain an unrelated statement.

// ERROR
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMethod()
#else
return 1 // error: unexpected tokens in '#if' expression body
#endif

Consecutive postfix #if expressions

#if ... #endif blocks for postfix expression can be followed by an additional postfix expression including another #if ... #endif:

// OK
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMethod()
#endif
#if CONDITION_2
  .otherMethod()
#endif
  .finalizeMethod()

Nested #if blocks

Nested #if blocks are supported as long as the first body starts with an explicit member-like expression. Each inner #if must follow the rule for postfix-ifconfig-expression too.

// OK
baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  #if CONDITION_2
    .someMethod()
  #endif
  #if CONDITION_3
    .otherMethod()
  #endif
#else
  .someMethod()
  #if CONDITION_4
    .otherMethod()
  #endif
#endif

Postfix #if expression inside another expression

Postfix #if expressions can be nested inside another expression or statement.

// OK
someFunc(
  baseExpr
    .someMethod()
#if CONDITION_1
    .otherMethod()
#endif
)

This is parsed as someFunc(baseExpr.someMethod().otherMethod()) or someFunc(baseExpr.someMethod()) depending on the condition.

Source compatibility

This proposal does not have any source breaking changes.

baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1
  .someMethod()
#endif

This is currently parsed as

baseExpr
#if CONDITION_1.someMethod()
#endif

And it is error because CONDITION_1.someMethod() is not a valid compilation condition. This proposal changes the parser behavior so .someMethod() is not parsed as a part of the condition. As a bonus, this new behavior applies to non-postfix #if expressions too. Consequently,

enum MyEnum { case foo, bar, baz }

func test() -> MyEnum {
#if CONDITION_1
  .foo
#elseif CONDITION_2
  .bar
#else
  .baz
#endif
}

Now becomes valid swift code. This change doesn’t break anything because explicit member expressions have always been invalid at the compilation condition position.

Effect on ABI stability

This change is frontend-only and would not impact ABI.

Effect on API resilience

This is not an API-level change and would not impact resilience.

Alternatives considered

Lexer based #if preprocessing

Like C-family languages, we could pre-process conditional compilation directives purely in Lexer level as discussed in https://forums.swift.org/t/allow-conditional-inclusion-of-elements-in-array-dictionary-literals/16171/29. Although it is certainly a design we should explore some day, in this proposal, we would like to focus on expanding #if to postfix expressions.