Why use @property in D?

Question

I figured out by trying that

struct PropertyTest
{
    @property int x() { return val; }
    @property void x( int newVal ) { val = newVal; }

    void test()
    {
        int j;
        j = x;
        x = 5;
    }

private:
    int val;
}

does exactly the same when I leave the @property out. Everything compiles fine. What's the point then for declaring functions as @property?

BTW, I'm using the dmd2 compiler.

Answer 1

The reason they work without @property is because @property was added after they allowed the property method syntax. Adding -property to your DMD command line enforces use of @property annotation. It's not the default for backward compatibility reasons. Someday it will become the default (or so they say) so it's best to compile with -property to ensure you are annotating properly.