From 1aeeab0c1bfd2a31df32ea9ebbfb2c98ef49e02b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Vyacheslav Egorov <vegorov@roblox.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2021 17:29:03 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] RFC: Lambda function expressions

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 create mode 100644 rfcs/syntax-lambda-function-expressions.md

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+# Lambda function expressions 
+
+## Summary
+
+Introduce a way to define anonymous functions using a more terse syntax.
+
+## Motivation
+
+Current function syntax takes up a lot of space when used for short anonymous that are passed in function calls.
+
+By introducing a shorter syntax, we make code with heavy use of anonymous functions easier to write and arguably, easier to read as well:
+```lua
+local a = sort(c, function(a, b) return a.x > b.x end)
+local b = filter(map(c, function(a) return a * 2 end), function(a) return a > 0 end)
+```
+
+Proposed:
+```lua
+local a = sort(c, (a, b) -> a.x > b.x)
+local b = filter(map(c, a -> a * 2), a -> a > 0)
+```
+Type annotations are supported are also supported, but with improvements to bi-directional type inference, typechecker should be able to deduce types in many cases:
+```lua
+local a = sort(c, (a: Bar, b: Bar) -> a.x > b.x)
+local b = filter(map(c, (a: number) -> a * 2), (a: number) -> a > 0)
+```
+
+Terse syntax for anonymous functions like this is used in various programming languages like C#, D, Java, JavaScript and Julia (ignoring `=>` vs `->`).
+
+## Design
+
+Syntax of *prefixexp* is extended with additional options:
+Before:
+```
+prefixexp ::= NAME | `(' expr `)'
+```
+After:
+```
+prefixexp ::= NAME [`->' subexpr] | funcargs `->' subexpr | `(' expr `)'
+```
+
+Note that an anonymous function with a single argument is allowed to have a type annotation only when it's inside `()`.
+
+We extend the syntax of *prefixexp* instead of *simpleexp* because we parse expressions inside parenthesis at this level.
+
+### Parsing ``NAME [`->' subexpr]``
+
+Parsing of the first option is easy, we check a single token for `->` after the NAME.
+
+### Parsing ``funcargs `->' subexpr``
+
+Parsing of the function argument list is in conflict with an expression in `` `(' expr `)'``.
+To resolve this issue, we are going to perform the switch to potential function arguments after we consume the common `(` token.
+
+At that point, if the next token is a `NAME`, we use a lookahead token to check if it's one of `:`, `,` or `)`.
+In case it's `:` or `,` we proceed with function argument parsing.
+In case it's `)` we will consume both `NAME` and `)` and try to figure out is we had a reference to a binding or if the next token is `->` or `:` in which case that's an anonymous function and we got one argument name.
+
+---
+When we are done with parsing, we re-use the existing AST for function expression, but the single expression that we have is placed inside AstStatReturn.
+
+## Drawbacks
+
+Support for the proposed syntax complicates parse of *prefixexp* and nears a boundary where we almost step into backtracing.
+
+This feature also introduces an unfamiliar syntax of function definition to Luau for little real benefit.
+
+## Alternatives
+
+### Different token instead of `->`
+
+Other programming languages use `=>` token, but in Luau it is not used right now.
+
+### Introduction token
+
+To avoid complications with parsing, we may use an introduction token and get rid of the `->` token.
+One option might be the `do` token like in Ruby. Use of existing token preserves backwards compatibility:
+```lua
+local a = sort(c, do(a, b) a.x > b.x)
+local b = filter(map(c, do(a) a * 2), do(a) a > 0)
+```
+```lua
+local a = sort(c, do(a: Foo, b: Foo) a.x > b.x)
+local b = filter(map(c, do(a: number) a * 2), do(a: number) a > 0)
+```
+
+Syntax of *simpleexp* is extended with a new option:
+```
+| `do` funcargs subexpr
+```