[RFC] Add enum utility function

[colindecarlo]

Initially this PR is not intended for merge for but primarily as a Request for Comments.

A few days ago I was poking around the code base with a friend and I came across the keyMirror utility function. I could see from how it was being used what the intention behind the function was but I had the feeling that the implementation (and api) of the function wasn't carried through enough to be useable in a practical sense.

When I'm thinking of creating an enum what I want to do is simply define the set of valid values for it, I don't want to be hassled into first constructing an object literal whose keys represent my values. If I'm going to do that I might as well make a macro in my editor which transforms some structured list into that object.

I'd rather do this:

var COLORS = enum('red', 'blue');

than:

var COLORS = keyMirror({
  red: null,
  blue: null
});

I've implemented enum in terms of keyMirror but it really doesn't need to be. If keyMirror is only being used to build enumerations then I think it makes more sense to replace it entirely with enum however I'm not sure how important BC is. I've given some thought on how to bring the two functions together but I'm interested in knowing your opinion on it.

I'm also using the spread operator from ES6, I'm not sure if that's allowed or not.

Note I'm waiting on feedback before adding tests for this, no need to waste time on something that's not going anywhere :)

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[sophiebits]

The goal of the keyMirror function is to be compatible with the advanced mode of Google's Closure Compiler, which means that the keys have to appear as unquoted property keys in the JS source, so we can't use arrays and strings as you're suggesting. Since this is only an internal API anyway, I think we're going to leave it as is – but thank you for sending in the idea!

[zpao]

What @spicyj said. When I first saw keyMirror I actually wrote something very similar before being told the same thing. It's weird but it has a purpose. I encourage you to release any tools you find useful for yourself on npm / wherever. I'm sure others might find this useful.

[colindecarlo]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. 👍