Attributes

V has several attributes that modify the behavior of functions and structs.

An attribute is a compiler instruction specified inside [] right before a function/struct/enum declaration and applies only to the following declaration.

// @[flag] enables Enum types to be used as bitfields @[flag] enum BitField { read write other } fn main() { assert 1 == int(BitField.read) assert 2 == int(BitField.write) mut bf := BitField.read assert bf.has(.read | .other) // test if *at least one* of the flags is set assert !bf.all(.read | .other) // test if *all* of the flags are set bf.set(.write | .other) assert bf.has(.read | .write | .other) assert bf.all(.read | .write | .other) bf.toggle(.other) assert bf == BitField.read | .write assert bf.all(.read | .write) assert !bf.has(.other) empty := BitField.zero() assert empty.is_empty() assert !empty.has(.read) assert !empty.has(.write) assert !empty.has(.other) mut full := empty full.set_all() assert int(full) == 7 // 0x01 + 0x02 + 0x04 assert full == .read | .write | .other mut v := full v.clear(.read | .other) assert v == .write v.clear_all() assert v == empty assert BitField.read == BitField.from('read')! assert BitField.other == BitField.from('other')! assert BitField.write == BitField.from(2)! assert BitField.zero() == BitField.from('')! }

Struct field deprecations:

module abc // Note that only *direct* accesses to Xyz.d in *other modules*, will produce deprecation notices/warnings: pub struct Xyz { pub mut: a int d int @[deprecated: 'use Xyz.a instead'; deprecated_after: '2999-03-01'] // the tags above, will produce a notice, since the deprecation date is in the far future }

Function/method deprecations:

// Calling this function will result in a deprecation warning @[deprecated] fn old_function() { } // It can also display a custom deprecation message @[deprecated: 'use new_function() instead'] fn legacy_function() {} // You can also specify a date, after which the function will be // considered deprecated. Before that date, calls to the function // will be compiler notices - you will see them, but the compilation // is not affected. After that date, calls will become warnings, // so ordinary compiling will still work, but compiling with -prod // will not (all warnings are treated like errors with -prod). // 6 months after the deprecation date, calls will be hard // compiler errors. @[deprecated: 'use new_function2() instead'] @[deprecated_after: '2021-05-27'] fn legacy_function2() {}
// This function's calls will be inlined. @[inline] fn inlined_function() { } // This function's calls will NOT be inlined. @[noinline] fn function() { } // This function will NOT return to its callers. // Such functions can be used at the end of or blocks, // just like exit/1 or panic/1. Such functions can not // have return types, and should end either in for{}, or // by calling other `[noreturn]` functions. @[noreturn] fn forever() { for {} } // The following struct must be allocated on the heap. Therefore, it can only be used as a // reference (`&Window`) or inside another reference (`&OuterStruct{ Window{...} }`). // See section "Stack and Heap" @[heap] struct Window { } // Calls to following function must be in unsafe{} blocks. // Note that the code in the body of `risky_business()` will still be // checked, unless you also wrap it in `unsafe {}` blocks. // This is useful, when you want to have an `[unsafe]` function that // has checks before/after a certain unsafe operation, that will still // benefit from V's safety features. @[unsafe] fn risky_business() { // code that will be checked, perhaps checking pre conditions unsafe { // code that *will not be* checked, like pointer arithmetic, // accessing union fields, calling other `[unsafe]` fns, etc... // Usually, it is a good idea to try minimizing code wrapped // in unsafe{} as much as possible. // See also [Memory-unsafe code](#memory-unsafe-code) } // code that will be checked, perhaps checking post conditions and/or // keeping invariants } // V's autofree engine will not take care of memory management in this function. // You will have the responsibility to free memory manually yourself in it. // Note: it is NOT related to the garbage collector. It will only make the // -autofree mechanism, ignore the body of that function. @[manualfree] fn custom_allocations() { } // The memory pointed to by the pointer arguments of this function will not be // freed by the garbage collector (if in use) before the function returns // For C interop only. @[keep_args_alive] fn C.my_external_function(voidptr, int, voidptr) int // A @[weak] tag tells the C compiler, that the next declaration will be weak, i.e. when linking, // if there is another declaration of a symbol with the same name (a 'strong' one), it should be // used instead, *without linker errors about duplicate symbols*. // For C interop only. @[weak] __global abc = u64(1) // Tell V, that the following global was defined on the C side, // thus V will not initialise it, but will just give you access to it. // For C interop only. @[c_extern] __global my_instance C.my_struct struct C.my_struct { a int b f64 } // Tell V that the following struct is defined with `typedef struct` in C. // For C interop only. @[typedef] pub struct C.Foo {} // Used to add a custom calling convention to a function, available calling convention: stdcall, fastcall and cdecl. // This list also applies for type aliases (see below). // For C interop only. @[callconv: 'stdcall'] fn C.DefWindowProc(hwnd int, msg int, lparam int, wparam int) // Used to add a custom calling convention to a function type aliases. // For C interop only. @[callconv: 'fastcall'] type FastFn = fn (int) bool // Windows only: // Without this attribute all graphical apps will have the following behavior on Windows: // If run from a console or terminal; keep the terminal open so all (e)println statements can be viewed. // If run from e.g. Explorer, by double-click; app is opened, but no terminal is opened, and no // (e)println output can be seen. // Use it to force-open a terminal to view output in, even if the app is started from Explorer. // Valid before main() only. @[console] fn main() { }