Rename dynamic to ???

[josevalim]

Elixir version

Future Elixir versions

Database and Version

All

Ecto Versions

All

Database Adapter and Versions (postgrex, myxql, etc)

All

Current behavior

Currently we define a dynamic/1 macro but:

1. Elixir's type system also has a dynamic/1 and they will be confusing
2. Elixir's kernel may also get a dynamic/1 function, which may cause conflicts

Expected behavior

Rename it to something else. The question is what:

1. dynamic_query is redundant as it is defined in Ecto.Query
2. dynamic_fragment feels incompatible as fragments are strings
3. dynamic_expr feels too technical? It can be because I am not a native speaker

Thoughts @greg-rychlewski?

[josevalim]

Alternatively we could pick a completely different name, such as snippet or segment, but that unfortunately means docs and documentation around this is outdated.

[greg-rychlewski]

I like the idea of keeping dynamic in the name because it’s so familiar already.

In the docs the section introducing this macro is called Dynamic Fragments but I’m non a big fan of using fragment in the name because it is easy to confuse the colloquial usage of the term fragment with the Ecto specific meaning. It also kind of sounds like it allows a dynamic string like an unsafe fragment.

dynamic_expr is my favourite because in my mind that is exactly what it does. And we actually describe it as a dynamic expression in the docs I linked to above. Expression is a bit of a technical term but anyone who has done science or math or computers at school will have heard it if the language of instruction is English.