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kotlinlang

Which one do you prefer?

A. Explicit `.parse` :
```val names = json at JsonPath.parse("$.*.name")```
B. Implicit parse:
```val names = json at JsonPath("$.*.name")```


I believe in this case the action of parsing is not what matters to the caller. So I prefer B because it looks like making a typed version of the string pattern, which is what matters to me (a bit like regexes)

Ah, Regex is a good example indeed.

I was initially thinking B was more readable, but then I thought of `Instant.parse` , `LocalDate.parse` , `String.valueOf` , etc and I couldn't find an example in the stdlib that just used a constructor.

It depends on the use case: your sample looks like a DSL, so I would prefer to not use a parse function to improve readability. 
In std lib/normal usage, I would prefer a parse function to make clear, parsing the function could throw a parsing error, and it is easy to create a parseOrNull function. 

A InstantOrNull function looks strange (to me)