Does `Follower#pop` really need a parameter? about dialect.rs HOT 1 CLOSED

Removing the argument to pop would mean that implementors would somehow need to know where to pop to. It's not clear how to convey that information.

Perhaps it could be done by adding a branch method:

trait Follower {
    // ...

    // tells client to mark the current head as a branch point
    pub fn branch(&mut self);

    // pop back to previous branch
    pub fn pop(&mut self);
}

This almost seems more complicated than the status quo because it adds another method. And it suffers from the same error condition as before, namely that you can pop beyond the previous checkpoint.

Originally this was motivated from the manuscript, where it became difficult to explain how to actually read strings. However, Writer should make it clear that this can be done very effectively just by tracking the current branch under construction then using pop to peel back the path to reveal a new root.

from dialect.rs.