Brummel
bcd41810f4
Reader-facing prose and rustdoc carried opaque shorthand like
"Decision 10", "clause-5", "mq.1", "ct.1", "eob.1", "rpe.1",
"post-mq.3", and "Iter 22b.1:" with no in-repo definition the reader
could follow. This commit replaces every such occurrence in the
durable tier the reader is most likely to land on (design/ ledger +
source //! module headers + the central /// public-item rustdoc) with
an inline content phrase plus, where applicable, a Markdown link to
the file that defines the referenced concept.
design/ ledger — 16 files:
Definition-site headings demoted from "Decision N: <title>" to
"<title>": authoring-surface, tail-calls, memory-model section in
rc-uniqueness.md, dual-allocator section, typeclass design,
effects "pure core + algebraic effects".
Cross-reference sites: "Decision 1" -> canonical-schema principle
(data-model); "Decision 3/4" -> effects + scope-boundaries; "Decision
6" -> authoring-surface; "Decision 8" -> tail-calls; "Decision 9" ->
rc-uniqueness (dual-allocator); "Decision 10" -> memory-model;
"Decision 11" -> typeclasses (model). "clause-5" -> body-link
durability gate. "clause-3" (in language-constraints) ->
bug-class-reintroduction discriminator. "mq.1/2/3", "ct.1/4",
"eob.1", "rpe.1" -> the canonical-form rule / the type-driven
dispatch / the Str carve-out / etc. "post-mq.3" -> "type-driven".
design/contracts/feature-acceptance.md: file-local "clauses 1/2/3"
-> "criteria 1/2/3" (sprachliche Kohärenz mit der File-Überschrift
"Feature-acceptance criterion"); "the clause-3 mechanism" -> "the
bug-class-reintroduction discriminator".
Source //! module headers — 24 files:
Stripped "Iter X.Y:" prefixes and "(Decision N)" / "(mq.X)" tags
from spec_drift, uniqueness, reuse_shape, migrate_canonical_types,
typeclass_22b{2,3,c}, suppress_filter, lift, mono, linearity,
diagnostic, method_dispatch_pin, method_collision_pin,
no_per_type_print_ops, mq3_multi_class_e2e, print_mono_body_shape,
print_no_leak_pin, cli_diag_human_workspace_load_error,
ct1_check_cli, prose snapshot, unbound_in_instance_method_pin,
mono_xmod_ctor_pattern, desugar.
Central /// public-item rustdoc:
ast.rs (full sweep — every "Iter X" + "Decision N" prefix
reformulated; mode/Type::Fn rustdoc now points at memory-model.md;
Constraint / SuperclassRef / InstanceDef / ClassDef rustdoc points
at typeclasses contract).
diagnostic.rs (all "(Iter X)" / "(mq.X)" tags on diagnostic codes
removed).
lib.rs (FORM_A_SPEC rustdoc points at authoring-surface.md
instead of "Decision 6").
canonical.rs (type_hash + Float-literal rustdoc).
Still outstanding (for a follow-up commit): ~500 inline `//`
code-body comments with `Iter X.Y` markers across the workspace, and
a handful of `///` rustdoc items in hash_pin / workspace_pin / lift /
mono / suppress_filter test-pin and internal-function bodies. Code
identifiers (test filenames like `mq3_multi_class_e2e.rs`, function
names like `iter18e_drop_iterative_default_preserves_hashes`) stay
verbatim per the user's "code identifiers stay verbatim" rule.
Tests: design_index_pin 5/5 + docs_honesty_pin 5/5; workspace builds
clean; full `cargo test --workspace` previously green (every
`test result: ok` line, no FAILED line).
81 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
81 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
# Authoring surface
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## Authoring surface
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Form (A) is implemented as
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the `ailang-surface` crate (parser + printer). Form-A is
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gated against drift by `ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs`, which
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parses every `.ail` fixture, prints it back, re-parses, and demands
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canonical-byte equality. `ail render` and both branches
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of `ail describe` were rewired to use `ailang_surface::print`, making
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form (A) the **sole** text projection of a module — the legacy
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non-round-tripping pretty-printer code in `pretty.rs` was deleted at
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the same time, leaving only diagnostic helpers (`type_to_string`,
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`pattern_to_string`, `manifest`) public.
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## Architectural pin: data structure is the source of truth
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The textual surface is **not** a replacement for the JSON-AST. It is
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one projection among potentially many. Concretely:
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- The [JSON-AST](data-model.md) keeps its role as the canonical, hashable, content-
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addressed representation of a module. All hashing, content-
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addressing, cross-module references, and typecheck/codegen input
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flow through the JSON-AST. **No new hashable form is introduced.**
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- The textual surface (form A, this contract) is the **AI authoring
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projection**: optimised for me producing programs token-efficiently
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and for foreign LLMs producing programs from a spec. It is not
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optimised for human authors and does not need to be human-pleasant.
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- Future projections are explicitly anticipated: a visual / graphical
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front-end is a plausible second projection for human review and
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inspection (display being the one case where non-AI eyes matter).
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The architecture leaves room: any producer of well-formed
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`ailang-core::ast::Module` values is a valid front-end.
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- **No human is expected to author AILang seriously.** Authoring is
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AI work. Display and verification, by contrast, are concerns where
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human-facing alternatives may be useful — and which can therefore
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layer their own projections on top of the same AST without
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touching the surface or the core.
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In code terms: `ailang-core` owns the AST. `ailang-surface` is one
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producer/consumer pair: text-form-A → AST → text-form-A. A hypothetical
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`ailang-visual` would be a different producer
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of the same AST. `ailang-check` and `ailang-codegen` consume only
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the AST and remain projection-agnostic.
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## Constraints (hard, in priority order)
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1. **Formalizable for a foreign LLM.** The grammar must fit in an
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EBNF/PEG spec of ≤ 30 productions. A model that has never seen
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AILang must be able to read the spec and produce conforming source
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zero-shot. Rules out: precedence between binary operators,
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semantic indentation, maximal-munch lexing, context-sensitive
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reductions.
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2. **AST-isomorphic.** Every surface form maps to exactly one AST
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shape. The full bijection between `.ail.json` and `.ail` (both
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directions, BLAKE3-stable hashing, Float-bits-hex encoding,
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workspace-CI enforcement points) is anchored as the top-level
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[Roundtrip Invariant](roundtrip-invariant.md) — this constraint
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records that the surface-design choice must satisfy that
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invariant; the invariant itself lives at top level because the
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property is load-bearing on the language identity, not on this
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file's surface-design rationale.
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3. **No external symbols.** ASCII only. No Greek (`∀`), no arrows
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(`→`), no subscripts. Reasoning: I substitute mojibake for
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non-ASCII characters under context pressure; foreign LLMs vary
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in how they tokenize Unicode.
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4. **No precedence.** Either everything is parenthesized, or there
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are no infix operators. Prefer the latter — `add(x, 1)` over
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`x + 1`. Removes a fail mode for both me and foreign LLMs.
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5. **No semantic indentation.** Block structure expressed by paired
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delimiters or terminator tokens. Indentation is informational
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only; the parser ignores it.
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6. **One construct per token-list.** Every AST node corresponds to
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exactly one parenthesized form (or atom). No "sometimes you can
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omit the parens" rules.
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7. **AST surface stays frozen.** The surface adapts to the AST, not
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the other way around. We do not change the JSON schema or
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invalidate hashes to make the surface prettier.
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Ratified by: `crates/ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs`.
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