I don't agree that get/set/didSet solve actual problems. Languages without property accessors do just fine, but then they don't overload the getting and setting

I don't agree that get/set/didSet solve actual problems. Languages without property accessors do just fine, but then they don't overload the getting and setting of variables. I would much rather right thing.setField(123), and have setField do whatever actions need to accompany the assignment; than write thing.field = 123, and then have the actions be hidden. What is so f'ing special about x = thing.field and thing.field = x syntax? Why is it so important to stuff additional semantics into that syntax? As for reference counting: I'm referring to capture lists, and the "unowned self" hack needed with closures. E.g. https://www.raywenderlich.com/966538-arc-and-memory-management-in-swift#toc-anchor-011 https://www.raywenderlich.com/966538-arc-and-memory-manageme.... And it gets more complicated with @escaping. I sure don't view all these subtle interactions of closures and ARC to be invisible. This stuff is subtle. Get it wrong and you have leaks.