RFR 8170348: Appendable.appendN(char, int) method to append multiple copies of char

[Ulf Zibis]

Am 08.12.2016 um 09:28 schrieb Peter Levart:
>
> On 12/07/2016 11:28 PM, Roger Riggs wrote:
>> AbstractStringBuilder:
>>    I agree with Claes' comment suggesting that IAE for negative lengths is a pain
>>    and defining it to append 0 would be natural in many use cases. 
>
> OTOH, inserting a simple Math.max(n, 0) instead of n where n could get negative would achieve the 
> same without complicating the expression too much. Java standard APIs have a tradition of being 
> explicit rather than having implicit hidden logic which surely shortens many usecases, but makes 
> them harder to read and understand for casual readers not intimately familiar with such API. The 
> logic to treat negative lengths as 0 is implicit and not universally correct.
+1
If we would treat negative values as 0, we loose a chance, where programmers could become aware 
about possible errors in the logic of their program.

-Ulf