Could setting a static array with a string literal be allowed?

[ryuukk]

Example:

host: [32]u8 = "test"

I work a lot with static arrays for my strings needs, and this would be very helpful

My typical use case is to just not have to care about strings and how they are allocated and what their lifetime is, they are mutable therefore so i can serialize my config from disk or just arbitrary data if i want to test something

Example:

struct NetInfo
{
    ConnectState state;
    char[32] map_token = 0;
    float connect_timer = -1;
    char[32] host = "127.0.0.1"; // here just set it a default 
    ushort port = 7979;
    int character_id;
}

void open(Context* ctx, StateID prev)
{
    if (prev == StateID.LOGIN)
    {
        state.net_info.host = state.ctx.config.server_host; // here just copy it from the config
        state.net_info.port = state.ctx.config.server_port;
        state.net_info.connect_timer = 0.01;

        LINFO("attempting to connect to: {}:{}", state.net_info.host, state.net_info.port);
    }
}

@(PacketType.RECONNECT)
void handle_reconnect(ReconnectPacket* rec)
{

    disconnect();
    state.net_info.host = rec.host; // here just copy the value
    state.net_info.port = rec.port;
    state.net_info.connect_timer = 1.0;
}

I never care about allocating a string, makes my life and design super smooth and lean

In odin currently use this utility function:

set :: proc(slice: []u8, str: string) {
    mem.copy(&slice[0], raw_data(str), len(str))
}

But i'd rather not have to import modules, and on a different project, i'd have now to use a collection..

I feel like this should be allowed because a static array is just a value type, there is no lifetime involved, and bounds are known at compile time already, compiler's job should be trivial

D allows this, and it's been quite useful to have

One cons is the hidden cost you pay at runtime

Questions:

• Is it that useful to have? I think yes
• Is it trivial to implement? I have no clue
• Is it trivial for the compiler? I have no clue

[Kelimion]

I think this should work?

buf: [32]u8
copy(buf[:], "Hellope")

[ryuukk]

Ohh copy is a built-in function? I didn't know that, i thought i had to call it by importing core:mem

That makes things easier, thanks