rbs 4.0.3 → 4.1.3

data/docs/wasm_serialization.md

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+# RBS AST binary serialization
+
+This document describes the binary format used to move a parsed RBS AST out of
+the parser and into Ruby objects without going through the Ruby C API. It exists
+so that RBS can run on Ruby implementations that cannot load the C extension
+(notably JRuby): the parser runs inside WebAssembly, serializes the result with
+this format, and the host rebuilds `RBS::AST` objects in pure Ruby.
+
+The encoder (`rbs_serialize_node`, `src/serialize.c`) and the schema that drives
+the decoder (`RBS::WASM::SerializationSchema`, `lib/rbs/wasm/serialization_schema.rb`)
+are both generated from `config.yml`, so they always agree. The decoder itself
+is `RBS::WASM::Deserializer`.
+
+## Conventions
+
+- All multi-byte integers are **little-endian**.
+- `u8`, `u32` are unsigned; `i32` is signed.
+- `str` is a `u32` byte length followed by that many raw bytes (no terminator).
+- A value is reconstructed to mirror exactly what `ast_translation.c` produces,
+  including string encodings: string/integer literal nodes are UTF-8, while
+  comments, annotations and symbols use the source buffer's encoding.
+
+## Nodes
+
+Every node begins with a `u8` **tag**:
+
+- `0` — a NULL node (`nil` on the Ruby side).
+- `1..N` — a node type, in the order they appear in `SerializationSchema::SCHEMA`.
+- `SYMBOL_TAG` (`N + 1`) — an interned symbol, followed by `str` (the symbol's
+  bytes). Decoded with `String#to_sym`.
+
+A few node types are encoded specially, matching their bespoke handling in
+`ast_translation.c`:
+
+| Node | Payload after tag | Decoded as |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `RBS::AST::Bool` | `u8` | `true` / `false` |
+| `RBS::AST::Integer` | `str` | `String#to_i` |
+| `RBS::AST::String` | `str` | the string (UTF-8) |
+| `RBS::Types::Record::FieldType` | node, then `u8` | `[type, required]` |
+| `RBS::Signature` | node-list, then node-list | `[directives, declarations]` |
+| `RBS::Namespace` | node-list, then `u8` | `RBS::Namespace[path, absolute]` |
+| `RBS::TypeName` | node, then node | `RBS::TypeName[namespace, name]` |
+
+Every other node is encoded generically:
+
+1. If the node exposes a location, its **base location** is written (see below),
+   followed by one location range per declared child, in order.
+2. Each field is written in declaration order, encoded by its type (see below).
+
+The decoder constructs `Klass.new(location:, **fields)` (omitting `location:`
+for nodes that do not expose one). For `Class`, `Module`, `Interface`,
+`TypeAlias` and `MethodType`, `RBS::AST::TypeParam.resolve_variables` is applied
+to `type_params` first, exactly as the C translation does.
+
+## Fields
+
+| Field type | Encoding |
+| --- | --- |
+| node (`rbs_node`, `rbs_type_name`, `rbs_ast_comment`, `rbs_ast_symbol`, ...) | a node (recursive; NULL allowed) |
+| `rbs_node_list` | `u32` count, then that many nodes |
+| `rbs_hash` | `u32` count, then count × (key node, value node) |
+| `rbs_string` | `str` (source encoding) |
+| `bool` | `u8` |
+| enum | `u8` index into the enum's values (see `SCHEMA`) |
+| `rbs_location_range` | a location range |
+| `rbs_location_range_list` | `u32` count, then that many location ranges |
+| `rbs_attr_ivar_name` | `u8` tag: `0` → `nil`, `1` → `false`, `2` → `str` → symbol |
+
+## Location ranges
+
+A location range is a `u8` presence flag:
+
+- `0` — null range (`nil`, or a node with no location).
+- `1` — followed by `i32` start and `i32` end **character** positions.
+
+The base location and child ranges together let the decoder rebuild an
+`RBS::Location` (with its required/optional children) through the public
+`RBS::Location` API, so the same decoder works whether `RBS::Location` is backed
+by the C extension or a pure-Ruby implementation.