|
1 | | ---- |
2 | | -layout: sip |
3 | | -title: SIP-37 - Quote escapes for interpolations |
4 | | -stage: completed |
5 | | -status: shipped |
6 | | -permalink: /sips/:title.html |
7 | | -redirect_from: /sips/pending/interpolation-quote-escape.html |
8 | | ---- |
9 | | - |
10 | | -> This proposal has been implemented in Scala 2.13.6 and Scala 3.0.0. |
11 | | -
|
12 | | -**By: Martijn Hoekstra** |
13 | | - |
14 | | -## History |
15 | | - |
16 | | -| Date | Version | |
17 | | -|---------------|-----------------------| |
18 | | -| Jul 31th 2018 | Initial Draft | |
19 | | -| Aug 1st 2018 | Process lead comments | |
20 | | -| Nov 2nd 2019 | Link dotty impl | |
21 | | - |
22 | | -## Introduction |
23 | | - |
24 | | -It's not straight-forward how to have a quote character (`"`) in an |
25 | | -interpolation. Parsing interpolations does not process backslash escapes, but |
26 | | -rather passes the raw string to the interpolator, which then has the option to |
27 | | -process escapes itself as it sees fit. That means there are no lexing rules that |
28 | | -process the escape, and the sequence `\"` simply terminates the interpolation. |
29 | | - |
30 | | -Interpolations have a different meta-character -- the `$` character -- which is |
31 | | -treated specially. Interpolations use this escape to splice in arguments, and it |
32 | | -can also be used to escape itself as the sequence `$$` to represent a literal |
33 | | -`$` character. |
34 | | - |
35 | | -Because of its special handling during the parse, the `$` could be used to |
36 | | -escape a `"` character to represent a literal `"` withing a string. |
37 | | - |
38 | | -## Motivating Example |
39 | | - |
40 | | -That the `"` character can't be easily escaped in interpolations has been an |
41 | | -open issue since at least 2012[^1], and how to deal with this issue is a |
42 | | -somewhat common SO question[^2][^3] |
43 | | - |
44 | | -{% highlight Scala %} |
45 | | -s"A common question for Scala programmers is "How can I represent a literal " character in Scala interpolations?"" |
46 | | -{% endhighlight %} |
47 | | - |
48 | | -Doesn't work. |
49 | | - |
50 | | -Neither does |
51 | | - |
52 | | -{% highlight Scala %} |
53 | | -s"A common question for Scala programmers is \"How can I represent a literal \" character in Scala interpolations?\"" |
54 | | -{% endhighlight %} |
55 | | - |
56 | | -### Examples |
57 | | - |
58 | | -{% highlight Scala %} |
59 | | -s"A common question for Scala programmers is $"How can I represent a literal $" character in Scala interpolations?$"" |
60 | | -{% endhighlight %} |
61 | | - |
62 | | -### Comparison Examples |
63 | | - |
64 | | -There are a number of ways to work around the current restriction. |
65 | | - |
66 | | -The simplest is triple-quoting the interpolation: |
67 | | -{% highlight Scala %} |
68 | | -s"""A common question for Scala programmers is "How can I represent a literal " character in Scala interpolations?"""" |
69 | | -{% endhighlight %} |
70 | | - |
71 | | -Another common workaround is splicing in a separate string in one way or another. |
72 | | - |
73 | | -{% highlight Scala %} |
74 | | -//with a normal escape in a string in a block |
75 | | -s"A common question for Scala programmers is ${"\""}How can I represent a literal ${"\""} character in Scala interpolations?${"\""}" |
76 | | -//with a quote character as a block |
77 | | -s"A common question for Scala programmers is ${'"'}How can I represent a literal ${'"'} character in Scala interpolations?${'"'}" |
78 | | -//with an identifier referencing a string that contains a single quote |
79 | | -val quote = "\"" |
80 | | -s"A common question for Scala programmers is ${q}How can I represent a literal $q character in Scala interpolations?$q" |
81 | | -{% endhighlight %} |
82 | | - |
83 | | -The second set of workarounds is dependent on the actual interpolator, and the |
84 | | -quote becomes an argument. The `s`, `f` and `raw` interpolators splice their |
85 | | -arguments in to the string, as is the obvious use and implementation of an |
86 | | -interpolator. But it's not the only possible use and implementation for an |
87 | | -interpolator and this way of inserting quotes may not work for any given |
88 | | -interpolator. |
89 | | - |
90 | | -## Design |
91 | | - |
92 | | -This is a non-breaking change. Currently the sequence `$"` within an |
93 | | -interpolation is a syntax error, as has already been noted[^4] |
94 | | -on the original ticket. |
95 | | - |
96 | | -## Implementation |
97 | | - |
98 | | -The implementation is simple to the point of being trivial: see |
99 | | -the implementation [^5] for the actual change in functionality and the rest of |
100 | | -that PR for the spec and test changes. |
101 | | - |
102 | | -There is also an implementation for Dotty.[^7] |
103 | | - |
104 | | -## Drawbacks |
105 | | - |
106 | | -Adding this feature makes the language just a bit more irregular. There already |
107 | | -is some amount of irregularity around string literals and interpolations in |
108 | | -the language. An argument could be made that this change makes that worse rather |
109 | | -than better. |
110 | | - |
111 | | -Because it affects parsing, this change may affect syntax highlighters. Syntax |
112 | | -highlighters tend to already struggle around "funky" strings and interpolations. |
113 | | - |
114 | | -## Alternatives |
115 | | - |
116 | | -More ambitious proposals around interpolations are possible, and have been |
117 | | -proposed in different forms before. For example, there was a PR thatshows more options |
118 | | -around using `\` as a meta character in interpolations[^6]. It stranded somewhere |
119 | | -between red tape, ambition and changing processes. |
120 | | - |
121 | | -I suspect the last word about interpolations hasn't been spoken, and that later |
122 | | -proposals may still make interpolations more regular. This proposal is |
123 | | -deliberately small, and intends not to be in the way of any potential further |
124 | | -proposals. |
125 | | - |
126 | | -[^1]: https://github.com/Scala/bug/issues/6476 "\\\" escape does not work with string interpolation" |
127 | | -[^2]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31366563/string-interpolation-escaping-quotation-mark/31366588 "" |
128 | | -[^3]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17085354/escaping-quotation-marks-in-f-string-interpolation "" |
129 | | -[^4]: https://github.com/scala/bug/issues/6476#issuecomment-292412577 "@retronym said: +1 to s"$"". Because it doesn't compile today, we don't risk changing the meaning of existing programs." |
130 | | -[^5]: https://github.com/Scala/Scala/pull/6953/files#diff-0023b3bfa053fb16603156b785efa7ad "" |
131 | | -[^6]: https://github.com/Scala/Scala/pull/4308 "SI-6476 Accept escaped quotes in interp strings" |
132 | | -[^7]: https://github.com/lampepfl/dotty/pull/7486 "PR in dotty" |
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +layout: sip |
| 3 | +title: SIP-37 - Quote escapes for interpolations |
| 4 | +stage: completed |
| 5 | +status: shipped |
| 6 | +permalink: /sips/:title.html |
| 7 | +redirect_from: /sips/pending/interpolation-quote-escape.html |
| 8 | +--- |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +> This proposal has been implemented in Scala 2.13.6 and Scala 3.0.0. |
| 11 | +
|
| 12 | +**By: Martijn Hoekstra** |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +## History |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +| Date | Version | |
| 17 | +|---------------|-----------------------| |
| 18 | +| Jul 31th 2018 | Initial Draft | |
| 19 | +| Aug 1st 2018 | Process lead comments | |
| 20 | +| Nov 2nd 2019 | Link dotty impl | |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +## Introduction |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +It's not straight-forward how to have a quote character (`"`) in an |
| 25 | +interpolation. Parsing interpolations does not process backslash escapes, but |
| 26 | +rather passes the raw string to the interpolator, which then has the option to |
| 27 | +process escapes itself as it sees fit. That means there are no lexing rules that |
| 28 | +process the escape, and the sequence `\"` simply terminates the interpolation. |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +Interpolations have a different meta-character -- the `$` character -- which is |
| 31 | +treated specially. Interpolations use this escape to splice in arguments, and it |
| 32 | +can also be used to escape itself as the sequence `$$` to represent a literal |
| 33 | +`$` character. |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +Because of its special handling during the parse, the `$` could be used to |
| 36 | +escape a `"` character to represent a literal `"` withing a string. |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +## Motivating Example |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +That the `"` character can't be easily escaped in interpolations has been an |
| 41 | +open issue since at least 2012[^1], and how to deal with this issue is a |
| 42 | +somewhat common SO question[^2][^3] |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +{% highlight Scala %} |
| 45 | +s"A common question for Scala programmers is "How can I represent a literal " character in Scala interpolations?"" |
| 46 | +{% endhighlight %} |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +Doesn't work. |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +Neither does |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | +{% highlight Scala %} |
| 53 | +s"A common question for Scala programmers is \"How can I represent a literal \" character in Scala interpolations?\"" |
| 54 | +{% endhighlight %} |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +### Examples |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +{% highlight Scala %} |
| 59 | +s"A common question for Scala programmers is $"How can I represent a literal $" character in Scala interpolations?$"" |
| 60 | +{% endhighlight %} |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +### Comparison Examples |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +There are a number of ways to work around the current restriction. |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +The simplest is triple-quoting the interpolation: |
| 67 | +{% highlight Scala %} |
| 68 | +s"""A common question for Scala programmers is "How can I represent a literal " character in Scala interpolations?"""" |
| 69 | +{% endhighlight %} |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +Another common workaround is splicing in a separate string in one way or another. |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | +{% highlight Scala %} |
| 74 | +//with a normal escape in a string in a block |
| 75 | +s"A common question for Scala programmers is ${"\""}How can I represent a literal ${"\""} character in Scala interpolations?${"\""}" |
| 76 | +//with a quote character as a block |
| 77 | +s"A common question for Scala programmers is ${'"'}How can I represent a literal ${'"'} character in Scala interpolations?${'"'}" |
| 78 | +//with an identifier referencing a string that contains a single quote |
| 79 | +val quote = "\"" |
| 80 | +s"A common question for Scala programmers is ${q}How can I represent a literal $q character in Scala interpolations?$q" |
| 81 | +{% endhighlight %} |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | +The second set of workarounds is dependent on the actual interpolator, and the |
| 84 | +quote becomes an argument. The `s`, `f` and `raw` interpolators splice their |
| 85 | +arguments in to the string, as is the obvious use and implementation of an |
| 86 | +interpolator. But it's not the only possible use and implementation for an |
| 87 | +interpolator and this way of inserting quotes may not work for any given |
| 88 | +interpolator. |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +## Design |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +This is a non-breaking change. Currently the sequence `$"` within an |
| 93 | +interpolation is a syntax error, as has already been noted[^4] |
| 94 | +on the original ticket. |
| 95 | + |
| 96 | +## Implementation |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +The implementation is simple to the point of being trivial: see |
| 99 | +the implementation [^5] for the actual change in functionality and the rest of |
| 100 | +that PR for the spec and test changes. |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +There is also an implementation for Dotty.[^7] |
| 103 | + |
| 104 | +## Drawbacks |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | +Adding this feature makes the language just a bit more irregular. There already |
| 107 | +is some amount of irregularity around string literals and interpolations in |
| 108 | +the language. An argument could be made that this change makes that worse rather |
| 109 | +than better. |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | +Because it affects parsing, this change may affect syntax highlighters. Syntax |
| 112 | +highlighters tend to already struggle around "funky" strings and interpolations. |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | +## Alternatives |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | +More ambitious proposals around interpolations are possible, and have been |
| 117 | +proposed in different forms before. For example, there was a PR thatshows more options |
| 118 | +around using `\` as a meta character in interpolations[^6]. It stranded somewhere |
| 119 | +between red tape, ambition and changing processes. |
| 120 | + |
| 121 | +I suspect the last word about interpolations hasn't been spoken, and that later |
| 122 | +proposals may still make interpolations more regular. This proposal is |
| 123 | +deliberately small, and intends not to be in the way of any potential further |
| 124 | +proposals. |
| 125 | + |
| 126 | +[^1]: https://github.com/Scala/bug/issues/6476 "\\\" escape does not work with string interpolation" |
| 127 | +[^2]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31366563/string-interpolation-escaping-quotation-mark/31366588 "" |
| 128 | +[^3]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17085354/escaping-quotation-marks-in-f-string-interpolation "" |
| 129 | +[^4]: https://github.com/scala/bug/issues/6476#issuecomment-292412577 "@retronym said: +1 to s"$"". Because it doesn't compile today, we don't risk changing the meaning of existing programs." |
| 130 | +[^5]: https://github.com/Scala/Scala/pull/6953/files#diff-0023b3bfa053fb16603156b785efa7ad "" |
| 131 | +[^6]: https://github.com/Scala/Scala/pull/4308 "SI-6476 Accept escaped quotes in interp strings" |
| 132 | +[^7]: https://github.com/lampepfl/dotty/pull/7486 "PR in dotty" |
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