Re: initialize an array (1-D) at elaboration using an expression based on the index?

[Shark8 <onewingedshark@gmail.com>]

> ... having been raised on Algol-W I am delighted to see them come back.
>
> Is it their unfamiliarity that disturbs you?

No, not so much.
I don't see how they are [strictly-speaking] necessary, given that we
have declare-blocks (which can be arbitrarily-nested).
Granted, they would make it a lot less verbose in many cases. {BTW, if
we're going to allow if/then statements inside expressions &
assignments/initializations then what's keeping us from using case-
statements too?}

>
> They don't appear to have the same possibility for disaster as your C example,
> and have been around in some form in VHDL for decades.

That's quite true. However, I've learned to be careful around C/C++;
they are full of little inconsistencies that the compiler will happily
consume, only to surprise you twenty minutes before the assignment is
due [for students] or eight months after you've deployed your software
[for businesses].

> (In the combinatorial/parallel part of the language. VHDL2008 reintroduces them
> to the sequential part, inside processes)

Interesting; what is the VHDL syntax for them, if I might ask?