Reconsider String constructor emptying its argument

[jariji]

String(::Vector{UInt8}) empties its argument, which is documented behavior but still very surprising.

I'm not sure if there is a possible path to changing APIs like this in 1.x, but it could help users avoid surprises.

Discussion at https://discourse.julialang.org/t/constructing-string-x-vector-uint8-empties-the-vector/58816

[KristofferC]

Why do you think the current situation is the way it is?

[jariji]

Sometimes it's hard to tell from the outside. If this is considered a problem, some measures to communicate that to users, short of 1.x breaking removal, might be

• Adding a !!! warning in the docs
• deprecating the existing method and recommending an explicitly mutating function
• Adding a 2.0 milestone

[jakobnissen]

Duplicate of #32528, in which you can find more discussion, and in which is already on the Julia 2.0 milestone.