Azure / Azure/bicep

Deprecate the keyword `var` on behalf of a new keyword `const`

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#10,478 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement Needs: Upvote
Dominant language
Bicep
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Forks
830
Avg merge
1d 21m
Merged PRs (30d)
79

Description

**Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.**
The keyword `var` presumes the value assigned to the symbol is variable, that is, the concrete value referenced by the symbol changes over time. This is not the case with Bicep `var` symbols. A better label for them is `const` because their value remains unchanged once assigned.

Unlike other languages, Bicep doesn't support a mix mutable & immutable variables, so the distinction isn't important semantically for the compiler, but it does introduce ambiguity for people onboarding into Bicep

**Describe the solution you'd like**
A clear and concise description of what you want to happen.
Have `var` transition to `const`

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points. Start by locating how the Bicep compiler handles the `var` keyword and identify the compatibility, diagnostic, and migration scope for `const`. Done means the deprecation behavior and its impact on existing Bicep programs are defined and verified.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
compilers
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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