The Status Nim style guide

Object construction [language.objconstr]

Use Xxx(x: 42, y: Yyy(z: 54)) style, or if type has an init function, Type.init(a, b, c).

Prefer that the default 0-initialization is a valid state for the type.

# `init` functions are a convention for constructors - they are not enforced by the language
func init(T: type Xxx, a, b: int): T = T(
  x: a,
  y: OtherType(s: b) # Prefer Type(field: value)-style initialization
)

let m = Xxx.init(1, 2)

# `new` returns a reference to the given type:
func new(T: type Xxx, a, b: int ): ref T = ...

# ... or `init` when used with a `ref Xxx`:
func init(T: type (ref Xxx), a, b: int ): T = ...

Pros

• Correct order of initialization enforced by compiler / code structure
• Dedicated syntax constructs a clean instance resetting all fields
• Possible to build static analysis tools to detect uninitialized fields
• Works for both ref and non-ref types

Cons

• Sometimes inefficient compared to updating an existing var instance, since all fields must be re-initialized
• Compared to func newXxx(), func new(T: type Xxx) will be a generic procedure, which can cause issues. See Import, export

Practical notes

• The default, 0-initialized state of the object often gets constructed in the language - avoiding a requirement that a magic init function be called makes the type more ergonomic to use
• Avoid using result or var instance: Type which disable several compiler diagnostics
• When using inheritance, func new(T: type Xxx) will also bind to any type inheriting from Xxx