[Pitch] Improving capturing semantics of local functions

This is relatively rare, so I’d suggest introducing a context sensitive keyword to make it explicit, perhaps:

5. func fn<T>[foo, bar](param: T) throws -> T where T: Equatable captures [foo, bar] { … }

It makes sense (IMO) to keep it near the body of the function, since it is more an artifact of the implementation than it is about the API. Yes I know that caring about the API of a local function is weird :-)

-Chris

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On Nov 12, 2017, at 8:11 PM, Brent Royal-Gordon via swift-evolution <swift-evolution@swift.org> wrote:

Secondly, this proposal suggests allowing the same capture list syntax from closures in local functions. Capture lists would still be invalid in top-level and member functions.

I think this is a good idea, but I don't like bringing the already weird use of `in` to actual functions.

By analogy with the current closure syntax, the capture list ought to go somewhere before the parameter list, in one of these slots:

1. func fn<T>[foo, bar](param: T) throws -> T where T: Equatable { … }
2. func fn[foo, bar]<T>(param: T) throws -> T where T: Equatable { … }
3. func [foo, bar] fn<T>(param: T) throws -> T where T: Equatable { … }
4. [foo, bar] func fn<T>(param: T) throws -> T where T: Equatable { … }

Of these options, I actually think #4 reads best; 1 and 2 are very cluttered, and 3 just seems weird. But it seems like the one that would be easiest to misparse.