From d4b1248f65549020073d6f59d9d555b1b0dac387 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: agra <alex@swipelab.co>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2026 00:12:11 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] parser: parenthesized match-arm value vs payload capture
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A match arm `case PAT: (expr)` — e.g. `case 0: (5)` — failed to parse:
parseMatchBody unconditionally consumed an `(` after `case PAT:` as a
payload-capture `(ident)`, so a non-identifier first token produced
"expected capture name".

Disambiguate: treat `(` as a capture only when it encloses exactly a lone
identifier — `( ident )` — via a new isLoneIdentParen() helper (peekTag-based
two-token lookahead). Otherwise the parens belong to the arm-body expression.
Payload capture (`case .b: (v) { ... }`, examples/128) still binds.

This fixes the scalar paren arm value (`case 0: (5)` now parses and runs).
The tuple arm-value form (`case .X: (a, b)`) additionally needs a tuple
literal in statement/binding position, tracked separately as issue 0059.

Tests: two inline parser unit tests (paren arm value is not a capture; lone
`(ident)` still binds). Gates: zig build, zig build test, 273/273 examples.
---
 src/parser.zig | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/parser.zig b/src/parser.zig
index caed4b8..f59cec2 100644
--- a/src/parser.zig
+++ b/src/parser.zig
@@ -1270,6 +1270,13 @@ pub const Parser = struct {
         return tok.tag;
     }
 
+    /// With `self.current` at `(`, true iff the parens enclose exactly a single
+    /// identifier — `( ident )`. Distinguishes a match-arm payload capture from
+    /// a parenthesized / tuple arm-value expression (`(5)`, `(a, b)`).
+    fn isLoneIdentParen(self: *Parser) bool {
+        return self.peekTag(1) == .identifier and self.peekTag(2) == .r_paren;
+    }
+
     fn foreignRuntimeForOffset(self: *Parser, offset: usize) ?ast.ForeignRuntime {
         const tag = self.peekTag(offset);
         return switch (tag) {
@@ -3093,13 +3100,15 @@ pub const Parser = struct {
             } else try self.parsePrimary(); // .variant
             try self.expect(.colon);
 
-            // Optional payload capture: (ident)
+            // Optional payload capture: `(ident)`. Disambiguated from a
+            // parenthesized / tuple arm-value expression (`(5)`, `(1, 1)`):
+            // a capture is exactly `( <identifier> )`; anything else is the
+            // arm body (an expression) and is left for the body parse below.
             var capture: ?[]const u8 = null;
-            if (self.current.tag == .l_paren) {
-                self.advance();
-                if (self.current.tag != .identifier) return self.fail("expected capture name");
+            if (self.current.tag == .l_paren and self.isLoneIdentParen()) {
+                self.advance(); // '('
                 capture = self.tokenSlice(self.current);
-                self.advance();
+                self.advance(); // ident
                 try self.expect(.r_paren);
             }