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constructors that return result<> #436
Description
Today, the following syntax is illegal, since constructors have no return types:
resource blob {
constructor(data: list<u8>) -> result<blob, error-type>;
}However, this is a perfectly valid use case for languages like JS and C++, as result<> return type are lowered into blob directly, using exceptions to propagate error-type values if they occur. This is what happens already with normal methods that return result<>.
Thoughts? I wonder if it is possible to enable this use case. Without it, APIs are forced to use alternative static methods like create: static func(), which is not standard, and hurts readability/discoverability.
Moved from bytecodealliance/wit-bindgen#1114
Activity
lukewagner commentedon Jan 14, 2025
Totally agreed; we should definitely do this. I believe #285 makes this same point, so perhaps we can dup this to that?
Spec-wise, the change is very simple; we just relax the validation rules for
[constructor]...-named functions to also allowresult. Most of the work would be in wit-bindgen and related tools. Let me know if anyone is keen to work on this!OmarTawfik commentedon Jan 17, 2025
Thank you. I missed #285. I can close this one as a dup.