Keyword inside tuple shorthand syntax {a: 1, b: 2}

My supported-only-by-vibes take is that when a user writes {a: 1, b: 2} they are far more likely to be typoing either a map literal (missing %) or a kwlist literal (wrong kind of bracket).

I’m rather confused. Tuples do not support key/value pairs, so I don’t have a picture of what you want. Perhaps you want property lists, which are used more in Erlang than Elixir?

@gregvaughn Yes, it’s indeed confusing - the syntax, see:

iex> {:do_something, a: 1, b: 2}
{:do_something, [a: 1, b: 2]}
iex> {a: 1, b: 2}
** (SyntaxError) invalid syntax found on iex:2:1:
    error: unexpected keyword list inside tuple. Did you mean to write a map (using %{...}) or a list (using [...]) instead? Syntax error after: '{'
    │
  2 │ {a: 1, b: 2}
    │ ^
    │
    └─ iex:2:1
    (iex 1.17.0-rc.1) lib/iex/evaluator.ex:295: IEx.Evaluator.parse_eval_inspect/4
    (iex 1.17.0-rc.1) lib/iex/evaluator.ex:187: IEx.Evaluator.loop/1
    (iex 1.17.0-rc.1) lib/iex/evaluator.ex:32: IEx.Evaluator.init/5
    (stdlib 6.0) proc_lib.erl:329: :proc_lib.init_p_do_apply/3

How about something like this?
<div {:class, button: true, "button-active": false}></div>

It’s more rather about consistency. As mentioned this is supported in other cases, so I think same i.e. it should be supported in tuples.

I can get on board with the consistency argument but I think the desire for this would be realllllly niche. I’ve had the exact thought as @bartblast were I was thinking it would be nice shorthand for this to work in HEEx, but that is literally the only time. I think it’s more beneficial not introduce the ambiguity of %{a: :b} vs {a: :b} for a niche purpose.

Looking at Syntax reference — Elixir v1.20.2 I’m wondering if the syntax sugar in tuples should rather be removed. The atom shorthand within […] and %{…} works the same, but is considered a feature available for both those types and is not available for tuples.

The syntax sugar for skipping square brackets is documented to apply for the last parameter of calls. Creating a tuple is not a call. The closest comparison to the creation of a tuple would be the creation of a binary <<…>>.

Oh, in that case I can partially agree. However we need to keep in mind that 2-element tuples are considered literals, see:

iex> quote do
...> {:a}
...> end
{:{}, [], [:a]}
iex> quote do
...> {:a, :b}
...> end
{:a, :b}
iex> quote do
...> {:a, :b, :c}
...> end
{:{}, [], [:a, :b, :c]}
iex> quote do
...> {:a, :b, :c, :d}
...> end
{:{}, [], [:a, :b, :c, :d]}

If we go this way we should discuss if it could be allowed only for 2-element tuples. However such behaviour may be found as confusing. I guess that Elixir core team decided to make it work tuples like that because there is no real need for a list as the only element of tuple - instead we could simply use a list. So as always we end up with same thing: such stuff are related only to template engines. If all above is correct I guess this behaviour would not be changed.

I’m not sure this matters. Optional square brackets are a syntax feature, which doesn’t affect AST. At least outside of the optional metadata for the formatter, which might care.

iex(1)> quote do: call(:a, test: 1, test: 2)
{:call, [], [:a, [test: 1, test: 2]]}
iex(2)> quote do: call(:a, [test: 1, test: 2])
{:call, [], [:a, [test: 1, test: 2]]}

My objection is that if

{a: 1, b: 2}

is the same as

{[a: 1, b: 2]}

then why not also

{[a: 1], [b: 2]}

The role of the comma becomes far too ambiguous.

P.S. I don’t even like the “invisible brackets” implicit in my_fun(arg_1, opt_a: 1, opt_b: 3). I prefer an excess of clarity to an excess of magic.

Which, the a: :b syntax?

Looking at this sort of drives home too: outside of OP’s situation, why would you ever want to wrap a single keyword list in a tuple? One-element tuples aren’t encouraged in Elixir (and rightly so, AFAIC) and this syntax would push against that.