On Saturday 12 November 2005 12:05, Per Bothner wrote:
> A "function-never-returns-null" attribute doesn't seem like
> the right mechanism. Instead, there should be a "never-null"
> attribute on pointer types. A "function-never-returns-null" is
> just a function whose return-type has the "never-null" attribute.
>
I disagree. We would have to prove that every possible instance of this
type is non-NULL.
> A type attribute is much more useful. For example it allows:
> String x = shared ? "x" : new String("x");
> // The type of x [in a single-assignment-world] is non-null.
>
No. We don't put our types in SSA form. Another variable of type String
could very well be NULL.
