read!, etc.

[StefanKarpinski]

Technically, the methods of read that fills a buffer should be named read!. I propose the following:

read(io::IO, T::Type) # read a single value of type T
read!{T}(io::IO, buf::Array{T}) # fill buf with values of type T from io
read(io::IO, T::Type, dims::Int...) = read!(io, Array(T,dims))

[kmsquire]

I like the consistency. +1

[johnmyleswhite]

Yes!!! My last attempt to convince Jeff of this failed, but I think this is the cleanest way to go.

[JeffBezanson]

The ! is justified by the argument buf being filled. Other read methods wouldn't have it. If that's what you suggested before, I may have misunderstood.

[johnmyleswhite]

No, you're right: I was suggesting something broader than this.

[stevengj]

Yes, please. (Note that we already have readbytes vs. readbytes!.)

[mbauman]

+1. The current implementation of read{T}(io::IO, buf::Array{T}) is undocumented… I was about to add the documentation, but thought that read! was a better name myself. Glad to see this open issue.