Creator Applications

Creator applications allow to use simple function call syntax to create instances of a class, even if there is no apply method implemented. Example:

class StringBuilder(s: String) {
   def this() = this("")
}

StringBuilder("abc")  // same as new StringBuilder("abc")
StringBuilder()       // same as new StringBuilder()

Creator applications generalize a functionality provided so far only for case classes, but the mechanism how this is achieved is different. Instead of generating an apply method, the compiler adds a new possible interpretation to a function call f(args). The previous rules are:

Given a function call f(args),

• if f is a method applicable to args, typecheck f(args) unchanged,
• otherwise, if f has an apply method applicable to args as a member, continue with f.apply(args),
• otherwise, if f is of the form p.m and there is an implicit conversion c applicable to p so that c(p).m is applicable to args, continue with c(p).m(args)

There's now a fourth rule following these rules:

• otherwise, if f is syntactically a stable identifier, and new f where f is interpreted as a type identifier is applicable to args, continue with new f(args).

Analogously, the possible interpretations of a function call with type arguments f[targs] are augmented with the following interpretation as a final fallback:

• if f is syntactically a stable identifier, and new f[targs] where f is interpreted as a type identifier is well-typed, continue with new f[targs].

Motivation

Leaving out new hides an implementation detail and makes code more pleasant to read. Even though it requires a new rule, it will likely increase the perceived regularity of the language, since case classes already provide function call creation syntax (and are often defined for this reason alone).

Discussion

An alternative design would auto-generate apply methods for normal classes, in the same way it is done now for case classes. This design was tried but abandoned since it caused numerous problems, including

• overloading ambiguities
• overriding errors
• shadowing of user-defined apply methods by more specific auto-generated ones.