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From: "Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>
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Subject: Re: Constant record components
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 17:29:24 -0500
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Date: 2006-07-06T17:29:24-05:00
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"Jean-Pierre Rosen" <rosen@adalog.fr> wrote in message
news:p6fi8e.de4.ln@hunter.axlog.fr...
> Randy Brukardt a �crit :
> >
> > I can say that the notion that something declared "constant" could in
fact
> > be assigned to in some scope is rather disgusting. I don't think it
would
> > fly.
> >
> Hmmm.... Initialization of controlled constants?

After initialization, of course. (Constants are assign-once, logically.
Assign-never would be a problem, because they'd have no value at all in that
case!) And similarly, before finalization (although it shouldn't really be
necessary to clear the finalized result -- but it is often done, and
harmless to do).

Still, allowing the assignment of a name that is declared to be a constant
view at some point between initialization and finalization would be a nasty
change to the language. (Note that it might be possible to assign via a
different name; that's a different issue -- and one that is usually a
programming error.) Otherwise, "constant" would essentially be
meaningless -- bringing us back to the beginning; if it doesn't mean
anything, why bother with it at all?

                                    Randy.