doc: add a new language design faq

This indends to help quell frequently answered questions about the language
design in a single, authoritative place.

mk/docs.mk

@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
 DOCS := index intro tutorial guide-ffi guide-macros guide-lifetimes \
 	guide-tasks guide-container guide-pointers guide-testing \
 	guide-runtime complement-bugreport complement-cheatsheet \
-	complement-lang-faq complement-project-faq rust rustdoc \
-	guide-unsafe
+	complement-lang-faq complement-design-faq complement-project-faq rust \
+    rustdoc guide-unsafe
 
 PDF_DOCS := tutorial rust
 

src/doc/complement-design-faq.md

@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+% Rust Design FAQ
+
+This document describes decisions were arrived at after lengthy discussion and
+experimenting with alternatives. Please do not propose reversing them unless
+you have a new, extremely compelling argument. Note that this document
+specifically talks about the *language* and not any library or implementation.
+
+A few general guidelines define the philosophy:
+
+- [Memory safety][mem] must never be compromised
+- [Abstraction][abs] should be zero-cost, while still maintaining safety
+- Practicality is key
+
+[mem]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_safety
+[abs]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction_%28computer_science%29
+
+# Semantics
+
+## Data layout is unspecified
+
+In the general case, `enum` and `struct` layout is undefined. This allows the
+compiler to potentially do optimizations like re-using padding for the
+discriminant, compacting variants of nested enums, reordering fields to remove
+padding, etc. `enum`s which carry no data ("C-like") are eligible to have a
+defined representation. Such `enum`s are easily distinguished in that they are
+simply a list of names that carry no data:
+
+```
+enum CLike {
+    A,
+    B = 32,
+    C = 34,
+    D
+}
+```
+
+The [repr attribute][repr] can be applied to such `enum`s to give them the same
+representation as a primitive. This allows using Rust `enum`s in FFI where C
+`enum`s are also used, for most use cases. The attribute can also be applied
+to `struct`s to get the same layout as a C struct would.
+
+[repr]: http://doc.rust-lang.org/rust.html#miscellaneous-attributes
+
+## There is no GC
+
+A language that requires a GC is a language that opts into a larger, more
+complex runtime than Rust cares for. Rust is usable on bare metal with no
+extra runtime. Additionally, garbage collection is frequently a source of
+non-deterministic behavior. Rust provides the tools to make using a GC
+possible and even pleasant, but it should not be a requirement for
+implementing the language.
+
+## Non-`Share` `static mut` is unsafe
+
+Types which are [`Share`][share] are thread-safe when multiple shared
+references to them are used concurrently. Types which are not `Share` are not
+thread-safe, and thus when used in a global require unsafe code to use.
+
+[share]: http://doc.rust-lang.org/core/kinds/trait.Share.html
+
+### If mutable static items that implement `Share` are safe, why is taking &mut SHARABLE unsafe?
+
+Having multiple aliasing `&mut T`s is never allowed. Due to the nature of
+globals, the borrow checker cannot possibly ensure that a static obeys the
+borrowing rules, so taking a mutable reference to a static is always unsafe.
+
+## There is no life before or after main (no static ctors/dtors)
+
+Globals can not have a non-constant-expression constructor and cannot have a
+destructor at all. This is an opinion of the language. Static constructors are
+undesirable because they can slow down program startup. Life before main is
+often considered a misfeature, never to be used. Rust helps this along by just
+not having the feature.
+
+See [the C++ FQA][fqa]  about the "static initialization order fiasco", and
+[Eric Lippert's blog][elp] for the challenges in C#, which also has this
+feature.
+
+A nice replacement is the [lazy constructor macro][lcm] by [Marvin
+Löbel][kim].
+
+[fqa]: https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/rust-dev/2013-April/003815.html
+[elp]: http://ericlippert.com/2013/02/06/static-constructors-part-one/
+[lcm]: https://gist.github.com/Kimundi/8782487
+[kim]: https://github.com/Kimundi
+
+## The language does not require a runtime
+
+See the above entry on GC. Requiring a runtime limits the utility of the
+language, and makes it undeserving of the title "systems language". All Rust
+code should need to run is a stack.
+
+## `match` must be exhaustive
+
+`match` being exhaustive has some useful properties. First, if every
+possibility is covered by the `match`, adding further variants to the `enum`
+in the future will prompt a compilation failure, rather than runtime failure.
+Second, it makes cost explicit. In general, only safe way to have a
+non-exhaustive match would be to fail the task if nothing is matched, though
+it could fall through if the type of the `match` expression is `()`. This sort
+of hidden cost and special casing is against the language's philosophy. It's
+easy to ignore certain cases by using the `_` wildcard:
+
+```rust,ignore
+match val.do_something() {
+    Cat(a) => { /* ... */ }
+    _      => { /* ... */ }
+}
+```
+
+[#3101][iss] is the issue that proposed making this the only behavior, with
+rationale and discussion.
+
+[iss]: https://github.com/mozilla/rust/issues/3101
+
+## No guaranteed tail-call optimization
+
+In general, tail-call optimization is not guaranteed: see for a detailed
+explanation with references. There is a [proposed extension][tce] that would
+allow tail-call elimination in certain contexts. The compiler is still free to
+optimize tail-calls [when it pleases][sco], however.
+
+[tml]: https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/rust-dev/2013-April/003557.html
+[sco]: http://llvm.org/docs/CodeGenerator.html#sibling-call-optimization
+[tce]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs/pull/81
+
+## No constructors
+
+Functions can serve the same purpose as constructors without adding any
+language complexity.
+
+## No copy constructors
+
+Types which implement [`Copy`][copy], will do a standard C-like "shallow copy"
+with no extra work (similar to "plain old data" in C++). It is impossible to
+implement `Copy` types that require custom copy behavior. Instead, in Rust
+"copy constructors" are created by implementing the [`Clone`][clone] trait,
+and explicitly calling the `clone` method. Making user-defined copy operators
+explicit surfaces the underlying complexity, forcing the developer to opt-in
+to potentially expensive operations.
+
+[copy]: http://doc.rust-lang.org/core/kinds/trait.Copy.html
+[clone]: http://doc.rust-lang.org/core/clone/trait.Clone.html
+
+## No move constructors
+
+Values of all types are moved via `memcpy`. This makes writing generic unsafe
+code much simpler since assignment, passing and returning are known to never
+have a side effect like unwinding.
+
+# Syntax
+
+## Macros require balanced delimiters
+
+This is to make the language easier to parse for machines. Since the body of a
+macro can contain arbitrary tokens, some restriction is needed to allow simple
+non-macro-expanding lexers and parsers. This comes in the form of requiring
+that all delimiters be balanced.
+
+## `->` for function return type
+
+This is to make the language easier to parse for humans, especially in the face
+of higher-order functions. `fn foo<T>(f: fn(int): int, fn(T): U): U` is not
+particularly easy to read.
+
+## `let` is used to introduce variables
+
+`let` not only defines variables, but can do pattern matching. One can also
+redeclare immutable variables with `let`. This is useful to avoid unnecessary
+`mut` annotations. An interesting historical note is that Rust comes,
+syntactically, most closely from ML, which also uses `let` to introduce
+bindings.
+
+See also [a long thread][alt] on renaming `let mut` to `var`.
+
+[alt]: https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/rust-dev/2014-January/008319.html

src/doc/index.md

@@ -23,6 +23,14 @@ li {list-style-type: none; }
 * [Testing](guide-testing.html)
 * [Rust's Runtime](guide-runtime.html)
 
+# FAQs
+
+* [Language Design FAQ](complement-design-faq.html)
+* [Language FAQ](complement-lang-faq.html)
+* [Project FAQ](complement-project-faq.html)
+* [Code cheatsheet](complement-cheatsheet.html) - "How do I do X?"
+* [How to submit a bug report](complement-bugreport.html)
+
 # Libraries
 
 * [The standard library, `std`](std/index.html)
@@ -60,13 +68,6 @@ li {list-style-type: none; }
 
 * [The `rustdoc` manual](rustdoc.html)
 
-# FAQs
-
-* [Language FAQ](complement-lang-faq.html)
-* [Project FAQ](complement-project-faq.html)
-* [Code cheatsheet](complement-cheatsheet.html) - "How do I do X?"
-* [How to submit a bug report](complement-bugreport.html)
-
 # External resources
 
 * The Rust IRC channels on [irc.mozilla.org](http://irc.mozilla.org/)