Clarify the methods syntax sugar & a bit more

I think it's a bit clearer to show exactly what the syntax sugar of methods is, because that's all it is. Every function in Zig is in a struct (files are structs after all) and methods just simplify their use.

I also thought we might use the explicit saturating subtraction as that is why the feature is in Zig.
This commit is contained in:
Arya-Elfren 2023-04-26 22:47:03 +01:00 committed by GitHub
parent f83fe12dce
commit 18f69f5634

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@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
// Help! Evil alien creatures have hidden eggs all over the Earth // Help! Evil alien creatures have hidden eggs all over the Earth
// and they're starting to hatch! // and they're starting to hatch!
// //
// Before you jump into battle, you'll need to know four things: // Before you jump into battle, you'll need to know three things:
// //
// 1. You can attach functions to structs: // 1. You can attach functions to structs (and other "type definitions"):
// //
// const Foo = struct{ // const Foo = struct{
// pub fn hello() void { // pub fn hello() void {
@ -12,31 +12,34 @@
// } // }
// }; // };
// //
// 2. A function that is a member of a struct is a "method" and is // 2. A function that is a member of a struct is "namespaced" within
// called with the "dot syntax" like so: // that struct and is called by specifying the "namespace" and then
// using the "dot syntax":
// //
// Foo.hello(); // Foo.hello();
// //
// 3. The NEAT feature of methods is the special parameter named // 3. The NEAT feature of these functions is that if they take either
// "self" that takes an instance of that type of struct: // an instance of the struct or a pointer to an instance of the struct
// then they have some syntax sugar:
// //
// const Bar = struct{ // const Bar = struct{
// number: u32, // pub fn a(self: Bar) void { _ = self; }
// // pub fn b(this: *Bar, other: u8) void { _ = this; _ = other; }
// pub fn printMe(self: Bar) void { // pub fn c(bar: *const Bar) void { _ = bar; }
// std.debug.print("{}\n", .{self.number});
// }
// }; // };
// //
// (Actually, you can name the first parameter anything, but // var bar = Bar{};
// please follow convention and use "self".) // bar.a() // is equivalent to Bar.a(bar)
// bar.b(3) // is equivalent to Bar.b(&bar, 3)
// bar.c() // is equivalent to Bar.c(&bar)
// //
// 4. Now when you call the method on an INSTANCE of that struct // Notice that the name of the parameter doesn't matter. Some use
// with the "dot syntax", the instance will be automatically // self, others use a lowercase version of the type name, but feel
// passed as the "self" parameter: // free to use whatever is most appropriate.
// //
// var my_bar = Bar{ .number = 2000 }; // Effectively, the method syntax sugar just does this transformation:
// my_bar.printMe(); // prints "2000" // thing.function(args);
// @TypeOf(thing).function(thing, args);
// //
// Okay, you're armed. // Okay, you're armed.
// //
@ -63,7 +66,9 @@ const HeatRay = struct {
// We love this method: // We love this method:
pub fn zap(self: HeatRay, alien: *Alien) void { pub fn zap(self: HeatRay, alien: *Alien) void {
alien.health -= if (self.damage >= alien.health) alien.health else self.damage; alien.health -|= self.damage; // Saturating inplace substraction
// It subtracts but doesn't go below the
// lowest value for our type (in this case 0)
} }
}; };