Alternate shorthand syntax

[bogdanb]

I get why the Ergonomic Brand Checks proposal prevents using #x as shorthand for this.#x, but did anyone discuss about using something like ##x?

It’s a bit less nice to write, but if you’re typing one # anyway it’s easy to type two of them, and it’s still shorter than this.#. It’s also distinct enough to make it obvious that something special is happening with scoping.

[ljharb]

A shorthand of any kind would not gain consensus; the receiver isn’t special - any object may have a private field on it, not just this.

[bogdanb]

the receiver isn’t special

Yes, but I would bet that at least 90% of accesses of a private field are done via this. Most of why you want a private field is to hide it from other code. Cases where you need to access it in other instances of your own class are just a subset of those, and I’d bet a small subset.

(That said, I don’t think I’m arguing with you. If you say that consensus would not be gained, you may well be right. I just don’t see why the reason you cited would prevent consensus on the suggestion, nor why a shorthand of any kind would fail—since lots of languages have this kind of shorthand—but that’s probably between me and the consensus, not your fault...)