Core/Async and Bytes

[Malcolm Matalka]

Hello, I'm trying to write some File I/O code that uses Bytes, and I'm
just unsure of where Core is in the transition. Specifically I am
trying to avoid copying. Is it safe to switch all mutable uses of
String.t to Byte.t and things will Just Work?

Thanks,
/Malcolm

[Ben Millwood]

Although we plan to turn safe strings on one day, I don't think there's yet been much in the way of progress on that front. As such, compiling a program that uses core with -safe-string is probably not a great idea, and so it doesn't matter from a correctness perspective whether you use string or bytes.

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[Malcolm Matalka]

What about being future proof?  Should I prefer Bytes now where I have string so I don't have to change much if anything when the fateful day comes?

[Ben Millwood]

I don't think you'll be able to insulate yourself against future design decisions. When the switch is eventually made, it could potentially involve API changes to reflect different design constraints, so merely replacing some string types with bytes doesn't seem that likely to save you work. Moreover, there's no timeline for the switch, so I don't imagine it being too unlikely you're struck by some inspiration that causes you to rewrite your entire codebase in between now and then :)

That said, using bytes where it is your intention to mutate the buffer can be good practice from the standpoint of having your code say what it means.