New `export` feature looking for comments

As the experimental phase of Dotty winds down, and we begin moving towards formalizing Scala 3, the team is gradually opening features up for comments. This is generally happening on the Scala Contributors Forum, but you don’t have to be a compiler expert in order to comment — anyone who knows the language reasonably well and cares about its evolution is encouraged to read along and chime in.

The latest feature looking for comments is export, as described here. It is basically the dual of import, a way for classes to forward declarations. The explicit purpose is to make it easier to compose exactly the types you want, without needing to resort to inheritance. It’s quite intriguing — I can think of a number of places where my code could be improved with this capability.

Here’s the conversation about it, and it’s worth checking it out. While I think most folks agree that the feature is worthwhile, there are still details that are up in the air, so it might evolve a bit before it goes to the SIP committee…