[External] : Pattern assignment statements (extracted from: Primitive type patterns and conversions)

[Brian Goetz]

> A couple of other things to consider:
> 1. C-style array declaration is not allowed in patterns.

Wish we could phase out C-style array decls entirely...

> 2. For local variable declaration, the initializer can omit `new int[]` part:
> int data[] = {1, 2, 3}

Good catch.  For some reason I was thinking this was only for fields, 
but it works for locals too.  There's a future story about collection 
literals, but it is unlikely we'll be able to retcon exactly this 
syntax.  (#include "bikeshed-deterrent.h")

We may be able to address this by including a conversion from an array 
initializer to the target type of a pattern in an unconditional pattern 
assignment context.

> 3. Local variable type may affect the initializer type (e.g.
> List<String> list = List.of()). What about patterns? Can we say that a
> `List<String> list` pattern is a total pattern over `List.of()`
> expression type?

Yes, patterns have a notion of a target type, which is the type they 
have declared as their matchee.  For a type pattern `T t`, that target 
type is T.  We already evaluate whether the pattern is applicable to the 
matchee using this type.