Files
AILang/design/contracts/float-semantics.md
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Brummel bcd41810f4 design/ + source rustdoc: replace opaque shorthand with content phrases + links
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).
2026-05-20 09:47:33 +02:00

110 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown

# Float semantics
## Float semantics
`Float` is IEEE-754 binary64 (LLVM `double`). One float type ships;
no `f32` variant. The runtime / codegen contract:
**Guaranteed:**
- Every individual builtin (`+`/`-`/`*`/`/`/`neg`/`<`/`==`/...) lowers
to a single LLVM IR instruction on the Float arm:
`fadd/fsub/fmul/fdiv double`, `fneg double`, `fcmp olt/ole/ogt/oge
double`, `fcmp oeq double`, `fcmp une double` (for `!=`). On a
fixed `(target triple, LLVM version)` pair, the bit pattern of
the result of any single op is reproducible.
- NaN and ±Inf propagate per IEEE 754 — no silent collapse to zero,
no trap. Arithmetic on a NaN operand produces NaN; division by
zero produces ±Inf; `0.0 / 0.0` produces NaN.
- `-0.0` and `+0.0` are distinct bit patterns at the canonical-JSON
hash level (`{"bits":"0000000000000000",...}` vs
`{"bits":"8000000000000000",...}` — distinct `def_hash`s) but
compare equal via `==` per IEEE (`fcmp oeq double` returns true
for `+0 == -0`). This asymmetry is the correct IEEE behaviour;
it does mean `def_hash`-equality is finer than `==`-equality on
Float.
- `==` returns `false` whenever either operand is NaN
(`fcmp oeq` is the ordered-equal predicate; ordered = both
operands non-NaN).
- `!=` returns `true` whenever either operand is NaN (`fcmp une`
is the unordered-or-not-equal predicate). This matches Rust
`f64::ne` and IEEE-`!=` exactly.
- `is_nan` (`fcmp uno double %x, %x`) returns `true` iff `x` is
NaN. Bit-pattern-based NaN detection without dependence on the
payload bits.
- `int_to_float` (`sitofp`) is exact for `|n| < 2^53`,
round-to-nearest-even otherwise.
- `float_to_int_truncate` (`@llvm.fptosi.sat.i64.f64`) is total:
NaN → 0, +Inf → i64::MAX, -Inf → i64::MIN, finite-out-of-range
saturates, finite-in-range truncates toward zero. Matches Rust
`as i64` semantics (since 1.45).
**Unspecified:**
- FMA contraction. LLVM may fold `fadd (fmul a b) c` into
`fma a b c`. Bit results may differ between an op-emitted-in-
isolation pattern and an op-folded-into-FMA pattern.
- Reassociation. The compiler may reorder a chain like
`(a + b) + c` into `a + (b + c)`, producing a bit-different
result on numerically sensitive inputs.
- Subnormal flushing modes. If the target enables FTZ (flush-to-
zero) or DAZ (denormals-are-zero), subnormal results round to
zero; AILang does not enable these flags but does not forbid the
target from doing so.
- The exact NaN bit pattern produced by an op. Any quiet NaN bit
pattern is conformant; `0.0 / 0.0` may produce
`0x7ff8000000000000` on one target and a different qNaN on
another.
- The textual rendering of NaN through `float_to_str` (the runtime
C helper that backs `instance Show Float` and every Float-typed
`print` call). The libc `printf("%g", nan)`
glue used by `float_to_str` is permitted to emit `nan` / `-nan`
/ `NaN` etc. depending on libc version and the NaN's sign bit;
AILang does not normalise this, since the prose / surface-print
paths render NaN as the explicit `"NaN"` spelling and Float
rendering is for human-readable output, not round-trip.
The same libc-`%g` rendering applies to `show 1.5` / `show nan` /
`show inf` via `instance Show Float` (which calls `float_to_str`
internally — see [Prelude (built-in) classes](prelude-classes.md) for the Show ship).
The NaN-spelling caveat above is observable via `do print x` for
Float-typed `x`; the rendering is libc-version-dependent and
target-libc-specific. AILang does NOT canonicalise Float textual
representation; the LLM-author who needs deterministic Float
rendering for cross-platform test fixtures should bypass `show` /
`print` and emit a custom formatter.
These are the Rust / Swift / standard-LLVM defaults — not
research-grade reproducibility guarantees. The stronger guarantee
(e.g. Pythonic `float.fromhex`-level bit reproducibility across
ops) would require `-ffp-contract=off` plus per-op intrinsic
selection — out of scope for the milestone; revisit only if a real
use case appears.
**Form-A serialisation:** Float literals carry the IEEE-754
bit pattern as a 16-character lowercase hex string in the canonical
JSON: `{"kind":"float","bits":"<16-hex>"}` (see
[Data model](data-model.md) for the literal schema). Routing through the
JSON *string* path (not `serde_json::Number`) preserves bit
stability across `serde_json` versions and lets NaN / ±Inf
round-trip through Form-A — JSON numbers cannot represent them.
This bits-hex encoding is what keeps Floats inside the
[Roundtrip Invariant](roundtrip-invariant.md).
**Pattern matching:** `Pattern::Lit` on `Literal::Float` (see
[Data model](data-model.md) for the pattern schema) is hard-
rejected at typecheck (`CheckError::FloatPatternNotAllowed`). IEEE
semantics make Float patterns semantically dubious — NaN never
matches via IEEE-`==`, and bit-exact equality is rarely what an
LLM-author wants. Use ordering operators (`<`, `>`, ...) and
`is_nan` to discriminate Floats.
`float_to_str` (Float → Str) and `int_to_str` (Int → Str) are
fully wired through checker, codegen, and runtime. Both allocate
a fresh heap-Str slab at the call site (see [Str ABI](str-abi.md)
for the dual realisation) and carry `ret_mode: Own` so the let-binder
for the call result is RC-tracked and the slab is freed at scope
close.
Ratified by: `crates/ail/tests/eq_float_noinstance.rs`.