Allow ref assignment in ternary operator and switch expression

[Thaina]

bool isRight = false;
SomeObject left,right;
ref var side	= isRight ? ref right : ref left;
side = new SomeObject(); // assign to left

Currently now this code above throw error

A ref or out value must be an assignable variable [Assembly-CSharp]

I think it should be available. Is it possible? It should also work with switch expression too

[CyrusNajmabadi]

Works fine for me as:

        bool isRight = false;
        string left = null, right = null;
        ref var side = ref isRight ? ref right : ref left;
        side = "whatever";

A couple of notes:

1. left and right must be assigned first. You can't take a ref to something unassigned because you have no idea if it will be read or not. There's no concept at the statement/expr-level in the language of "this is a ref which must first be assigned before you can read it".
2. You need to write your assignment as = ref. = ref is the ref-assignment operator. It's necessary even if sub-exprs are 'refs'. That's why you can't do:

You still have to write it as:

The same holds here. So you need: ref var side = ref isRight ? ref right : ref left;

A bit of a mouthful, but totally supported.

[CyrusNajmabadi]

It should also work with switch expression too

Can you file a separate issue for that? Compounding multiple requests into one issue just makes it harder to handle them.

[Thaina]

Oh I see, that was unexpected that we need ref for all places. I have tried to place ref in front before

This syntax is not so intuitive but still fine. I think the switch expression should work the same way so I would close this for now

Thank you very much

[CyrusNajmabadi]

You're welcome :) The intuition here is that you can only assign a ref with = ref. That's what ref-assignment is in the language.

I think the switch expression should work the same way so I would close this for now

I would personally agree. :) It might not happen in the initial release due to time constraints. but i def think it could happen later down the line.