procedure permissiveAssign;

[DEST, SRC]
overload permissiveAssign(dest:DEST, src:SRC) {
    dest = DEST(src);         // convert to DEST type
}

[S | CCompatibleString?(S)]
overload permissiveAssign(dest:Pointer[Int8], src:S) {
    dest = cstring(src);      // convert String to Pointer[Int8]
}

[T]
overload permissiveAssign(dest:T, src:T) {
    dest = src;               // for same types, use normal assignment
}