Constant evaluation

Constant evaluation allows the compiler to calculate the value of constants during compilation.

This provides the compiler with information that can be used for additional type safety and optimization.

Swift

In Swift, constant evaluation support is in its early stages. SE-0359 aims to formalize the use of @const attribute on declarations to signify that they can be determined during compilation. The compiler verifies that this is the case. The @const attribute can be applied to:

• immutable variable declarations
• function parameters
• static protocol property requirements

Note: SE-0359 does not provide any formalization of how user-defined code is evaluated during compilation. It is assumed that this will be addressed in a subsequent proposal.

Rust

In Rust, constant evaluation (“const-eval”) utilizes the interpreter (miri) to run arbitrary user code (including const functions) and evaluate it during compilation. Const-eval is possible in the folowing contexts:

• constants
• statics
• enum discriminants
• fixed-size arrays
• generic type arguments