[GitHub] [royale-compiler] joshtynjala edited a comment on issue #152: Missing Semicolon after static const generates error

[GitBox <gi...@apache.org>]

joshtynjala edited a comment on issue #152:
URL: https://github.com/apache/royale-compiler/issues/152#issuecomment-708661904


   I think that both compilers are behaving correctly, and we should not change this.
   
   Consider the following example, which I think helps to demonstrate why making any changes here would be problematic.
   
   ```as3
   public static function NotMetadata(value:String):int {
   	return 0;
   }
   
   public static const MY_ARRAY:Array = [1, 2, 3];
   
   public static const RESULT:int = MY_ARRAY[NotMetadata("foobar")]
   ```
   
   This code unambigiously uses array access and calls a static function, named NotMetadata.
   
   However, ActionScript allows us to add some whitespace between MY_ARRAY and the [ character, like in the next example below:
   
   ```as3
   public static const RESULT:int = MY_ARRAY
   
   [NotMetadata("foobar")]
   ```
   
   The whitespace should not change the resulting syntax tree. It's still the same code. Just formatted differently.
   
   The same is true if we use Bindable instead of NotMetadata.
   
   We shouldn't treat certain metadata (like Bindable) as a special case because ActionScript allows developers to invent arbitrary new metadata with any name that they want. They'll expect their custom metadata to behave the same, but we cannot guarantee that without breaking valid code, like what I included in my previous example.


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