Get symbol kind

[krux02]

fixes #7366

when n is of type NimNode, then you can do the following:

let symKind = n.symbol.kind

[krux02]

Something I would like to discuss here is the usefulness of the NimSym type itself. The only functions that accept a NimSym as argument, are the following:

proc symbol=(n: NimNode; val: NimSym)
proc `$`(s: NimSym): string
proc `==`(a, b: NimSym): bool
proc getImpl(s: NimSym): NimNode
# and with this PR also this one
proc kind(s: NimSym): NimSymKind

getImpl and kind are the only "useful" functions here, and except from the getter symbol there is no way to get a NimSym. Both genSymand bindSym return a NimNode not a NimSym. both getImpl and kind could easily be replaced by functions that also accept a NimNode as argument and expect the node to be of kind nnkSym. Of coure would it be required to be rename kind to something else like symKind or symbolKind.

let impl = n.symbol.getImpl
let kind = n.symbol.kind
# would become
let impl = n.getImpl
let kind = n.symKind

[Araq]

Something I would like to discuss here is the usefulness of the NimSym type itself.

Yeah, we should do without, I agree, good points!

[krux02]

Should I implement getImpl and symKind as proposed and tag following functions as deprecated, in this PR?

proc symbol(n: NimNode): NimSym
proc symbol=(n: NimNode; val: NimSym)
proc `$`(s: NimSym): string
proc `==`(a, b: NimSym): bool
proc getImpl(s: NimSym): NimNode

[Araq]

Yes.

[krux02]

There is one thing I would like to discuss here, too. The NimIdent
type is already almost obsolete. These are the functions that are all
methods that take a NimIdent

# NimIdent result
proc toNimIdent*(s: string): NimIdent
proc ident*(n: NimNode): NimIdent

# NimIdent argument
proc `!`*(s: string): NimIdent
proc `$`*(i: NimIdent): string
proc `==`*(a, b: NimIdent): bool
proc `ident=`*(n: NimNode, val: NimIdent)
proc newIdentNode*(i: NimIdent): NimNode
proc newCall*(theProc: NimIdent, args: varargs[NimNode]): NimNode
proc nestList*(theProc: NimIdent, x: NimNode): NimNode

The only function that doesn't work with a NimNode is nestList. And
that one can easily be ported.
It is just proc `$`(n: NimNode) that relies on
proc `$`(i: NimIdent) for it's implementation. But apart from
that, NimIdent is ready for deprecation, too.

I think the best road to deprecate NimIdent is to rename symName that I just implemented to just name, and make it work on both identifiers and symbols.

[dom96]

Just some small comments. Looks good.

[dom96]

Please add a doc comment with the usual deprecation template.

[dom96]

Are these definitions really necessary?

[krux02]

yes they are, otherwise bootstrapping breaks.

[dom96]

I see.

[krux02]

well at least when the bootstrapping compiler is updated, the when statement with the else branch can completely disappear.

[Araq]

Looks excellent, needs a changelog entry and more documentation overall. Also check if the existing documentation is outdated with this change.

[krux02]

using strVal= for nkIdent nkSym does not work. For consistency I could make it work, but I don't think they should be used to set the string in either symbols not identifiers. Apart from that, this PR is ready for another review. A lot of changes went into this now.

[Araq]

It's really nice. I have nothing to complain. Not merging though since you had some questions in IRC.