Recent changes to Reflection

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 23:41:07 -0000

--- v7
+++ v8
@@ -1,9 +1,21 @@
-Type reflection in ASIL is done via the Type and TypeInstance classes.  (TypeInstance contains a Type reference and is used to differentiate between various types of references and value instances.  Variables like  & int and int share the same Type instance, but different TypeInstance instances.)
+[TOC]

-The **type** member in every type
----------------------------------
-Every type, including primitives, has a special member called type.  (If you need "type" as the name of a member or method, use "@type" instead.)  This is a TypeInstance instance and can be compared with a Type instance.  You can explicitly access the Type instance with "type.declaration".
+Overview
+--------
+Type reflection in ASIL is done via the Type and TypeInstance classes.  (TypeInstance contains a Type reference and is used to differentiate between various types of references and value instances.  Variables like  ref int and int share the same Type instance, but different TypeInstance instances.)
+
+A variable declared using a shortcut versus a variable declared without a shortcut
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+It doesn't matter if you declare a variable with or without a type shortcut.  Both var int i and var i% share the same Type instance.
+
+The type member in every type
+------------------------------------------
+Every type, including primitives, has a special member called type.  (If you need "type" as the name of a member or method, you'll need to declare it with the **[new](keywords-new)** keyword.)  This is a TypeInstance instance and can be compared with a Type instance.  You can explicitly access the Type instance with "type.declaration".

 Accessing a Type instance without a instance of the type
 --------------------------------------------------------
-Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  So "int = 2.type.declartion" is a true expression.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.
+Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  So "int = 2.type.declaration" is a true expression.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.
+
+[Type aliases]
+--------------
+Type aliases pose a special challenge.  A TypeAlias has a class very similar to TypeInstance called TypeAlias.  However, a TypeAlias can be based on another TypeAlias as long as there are no circular references.

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 13:58:15 -0000

--- v6
+++ v7
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@

 The **type** member in every type
 ---------------------------------
-Every type, including primitives, has a special members called type.  (If you need "type" as the name of a member or method, use "@type" instead.)  This is a TypeInstance instance and can be compared with a Type instance.  You can explicitly access the Type instance with "type.declaration".
+Every type, including primitives, has a special member called type.  (If you need "type" as the name of a member or method, use "@type" instead.)  This is a TypeInstance instance and can be compared with a Type instance.  You can explicitly access the Type instance with "type.declaration".

 Accessing a Type instance without a instance of the type
 --------------------------------------------------------
-Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  So "int = 2.type" is a true expression.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.
+Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  So "int = 2.type.declartion" is a true expression.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 20:29:29 -0000

--- v5
+++ v6
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@

 Accessing a Type instance without a instance of the type
 --------------------------------------------------------
-Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  So "String = "value".type is a true expression.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.
+Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  So "int = 2.type" is a true expression.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 20:27:36 -0000

--- v4
+++ v5
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@

 Accessing a Type instance without a instance of the type
 --------------------------------------------------------
-Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.
+Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  So "String = "value".type is a true expression.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 20:26:06 -0000

--- v3
+++ v4
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@

 Accessing a Type instance without a instance of the type
 --------------------------------------------------------
-Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.
+Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection.  If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead.  This includes the identifier for a generic type parameter.  The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 17:48:21 -0000

--- v2
+++ v3
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Type reflection in ASIL is done via the Type and TypeInstance classes.  (TypeInstance contains a Type reference and is used to differentiate between various types of references and value instances.  Variables like  & int and int share the same Type isntance, but different TypeInstance instances.)
+Type reflection in ASIL is done via the Type and TypeInstance classes.  (TypeInstance contains a Type reference and is used to differentiate between various types of references and value instances.  Variables like  & int and int share the same Type instance, but different TypeInstance instances.)

 The **type** member in every type
 ---------------------------------

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 17:47:32 -0000

--- v1
+++ v2
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Type reflection in ASIL is done via the Type and TypeInstance classes.  (TypeInstance contains a Type reference and is used to differentiate between various types of references and value instances.)
+Type reflection in ASIL is done via the Type and TypeInstance classes.  (TypeInstance contains a Type reference and is used to differentiate between various types of references and value instances.  Variables like  & int and int share the same Type isntance, but different TypeInstance instances.)

 The **type** member in every type
 ---------------------------------

Reflection modified by Will Pittenger

Will Pittenger — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 17:43:16 -0000

Type reflection in ASIL is done via the Type and TypeInstance classes. (TypeInstance contains a Type reference and is used to differentiate between various types of references and value instances.)

The type member in every type

Every type, including primitives, has a special members called type. (If you need "type" as the name of a member or method, use "@type" instead.) This is a TypeInstance instance and can be compared with a Type instance. You can explicitly access the Type instance with "type.declaration".

Accessing a Type instance without a instance of the type

Unlike other languages, ASIL doesn't need a special operator to turn a type name into the type used for reflection. If the parser encounters a type name where a type name wasn't expected, it tries the corresponding Type instance instead. The Type class will be comparable to those in other languages.