What should the pragma be named?

[domenic]

I currently have specced "use no Function.prototype.toString".

This might be fine. It's pretty clear on what it does.

Any other suggestions?

[ljharb]

"use native Function.prototype.toString"?

[michaelficarra]

"delete Function.prototype.toString"

Take it out of quotes for extra umph.

[dead-claudia]

How about any of these? They don't imply we're dropping or otherwise aliasing Function.prototype.toString, and who says we're bound to the "use ${foo}" format anyways (the spec doesn't)?

• "censor source strings"
• "censor sources"
• "censor as native"
• "ignore sources"
• "use no sources" if you prefer to stick with the "use ${foo}" format.

[ExE-Boss]

"censor toString" or "use no toString" could also work.

[domenic]

Current spec has been switched (per #17) to "hide implementation". My only concern there is that it might be over-broad, implying e.g. that all public fields will automatically become private fields or something. But, it's pretty good, and I'd be happy keeping it.

[Alhadis]

@domenic What about "hide source"?

[dead-claudia]

I like that better than any of my previous suggestions. Nice, succinct, direct, and obvious.

(Not TC39, so I have no real power in this. Just a JS dev who likes to observe these discussions.)

Edit: Remove an irrelevant comment.

[ilias-t]

I'd prefer something shorter like "hide source" or "hide code" to "hide implementation", which is more likely to be misspelled.

[michaelficarra]

Still open to ideas here, but right now we are going with "sensitive", "hide implementation", and (if we must) "preserve implementation".

[Alhadis]

... again, what's wrong with something short and obvious like "hide source"? Honestly, that's all you're really doing.

A function's name and length are technically part of its "implementation", so the word itself isn't entirely correct here. As for "sensitive", that doesn't explain what it's doing, only hinting at secrecy. It could be interpreted any number of ways.

[michaelficarra]

@Alhadis The function name and position information are also hidden within stack traces by the "hide implementation" directive.

[bathos]

FYI I would still like feedback on alternative directive names (tc39/ecma262#1739 (comment))

1. Right now, the directive strings don’t communicate their relationship to one another. I think it should be clearer that the effects of what’s being called ‘sensitive’ are a superset of the effects of what’s being called ‘hide implementation’.
2. Right now, the directive strings are inconsistent in terms of (English) grammar. ‘Hide implementation’ is an instruction, but ‘sensitive’ is a description. Directives should always be written as instructions IMO, and notably, the only precedent for this is written as an instruction (‘use strict’).* Adjectival naming belongs to the domain of decorators (annotative, declarative) as opposed to directives (interpreter, do something!).
3. The word ‘implementation’ has an overly broad scope and is often used to mean different things depending on context. I think it should be more clear that it concerns the exposure of source text.
4. The word ‘sensitive’ has this property also — but even more. Because it does more than one thing, I understand why one might reach for a ‘what it’s intended for’ term instead of a ‘what it does’ term — I assume it’s desirable to keep the strings brief and memorable — but all of the things it does do still concern ‘hiding’ or ‘redacting’. When we combine that fact with (1) above, it hints at an alternative pattern.

I am picturing:

• "use strict"
• "redact source"
• "redact all"

or:

• "use strict"
• "hide source"
• "hide all"

(I have a minor preference for ‘redact’ over ‘hide’. This is probably very subjective — I can explain it, but it’s not as concrete as the considerations listed above. ‘Hiding’ functionality often implies showing functionality also exists; it doesn’t communicate finality the way ‘redact’ does. Redact also helps to communicate that the subject is textual material: these directives concern exposure through strings. Parts of those strings are, at least in terms of apparent effect, spliced out or replaced in order to prevent specific information from being exposed.)

I included "use strict" in these lists to help show how they benefit from following a consistent grammatical pattern / voice.

* re: "use"

Earlier in the thread, it was suggested that the word "use" might be expected to appear. If the goal is consistency, unqualified by context or purpose, any property of ‘'use strict'’ might be a candidate for elevating to a categorical trait (all directive strings end with a consonant!). The goal isn’t consistency, imo — rather, it is communication, and consistency is a tool available in service of that. Communication includes more than recognizability — if possible, a naming pattern should facilitate rationalizability. Users should be able to intuit some sort of story (so to speak) that ties together members of a category regardless of their level of expertise. IMO, in this case it’s the structure and tone of voice, especially when examined in relation to other naming conventions, which provides the highest-value pattern potential — a lil rubric for both recognizing directives and naming directives. For "use" — well, I think the story to tell is not ‘directives tell the interpreter what to use,’ but rather ‘directives tell the interpreter what to do.’ ... ‘[Hey! When you eval this, I want you to] use strict [mode!]’ ... ‘[Hey! When you eval this, I want you to] hide source [text!]’ ... etc. ehh, apologies, this is teetering into weird philosophizing ramble ... lemme slam this inside a <details> ...