Implement the toolchain side of proposal #7254, removing the `:!`
binding
syntax for generic and template parameters in favor of the keywords
`generic`,
`template`, and `runtime` plus contextual defaults for phase.
For valid programs this is semantics-preserving: each binding resolves
to the
same phase, and produces the same SemIR, as it did under `:!`/`:`. The
parser
derives a binding's phase from its syntactic context plus any explicit
phase
keyword; new diagnostics and error recovery for misused keywords are
described
below.
Implementation details for each component:
- Lexer: remove the `:!` (`ColonExclaim`) token, move its virtual
parse-node
budget onto `:`, and add the `generic` and `runtime` keywords.
- Parser: thread a `BindingContext` (`ExplicitParam`, `DeducedParam`, or
`CompileTimeEntityParam`) from declaration introducers down through
parameter
lists to each binding pattern, using a one-token lookahead to
distinguish a
name-qualifier parameter list from a declaration's own final list.
Parameters
of a compile-time entity (`class`, `interface`, `constraint`, `choice`,
`alias`, `export`, `namespace`) and deduced `[]` parameters default to
checked
generic; explicit function parameters and local bindings default to
runtime.
`HandleBindingPattern` resolves the phase from that context plus the
keyword: a
`generic` keyword needs no node of its own (the phase is carried by the
binding's node kind), while a `runtime` keyword is preserved as a
`RuntimeBindingName` node so `check` can name it in a diagnostic. A
phase
keyword that is merely redundant with the contextual default is
diagnosed
here, without invalidating the parse tree.
- Check: a phase keyword that is invalid for its context (for example
`runtime`
on a checked-generic parameter) is diagnosed here, and recovers by
building an
error binding that still introduces the name so that later uses of it do
not
produce cascading errors.
The removed `:!` syntax is now rejected as an ordinary parse error.
The `form`/`:?`/`->?` ("extended types") portion of proposal #7254 is
left for a
separate change.
Assisted-by: Claude Code
This allows C++ to call Carbon functions with generic type parameters,
with some conditions. Example:
```carbon
interface I {
fn Doit(self);
}
class A {
impl as I { fn Doit(unused self) {} }
}
class B {
impl as I { fn Doit(unused self) {} }
}
fn F[T:! I](t: T) {
t.Doit();
}
inline Cpp '''
void G() {
Carbon::A a;
Carbon::B b;
Carbon::F(a);
Carbon::F(b);
}
''';
```
The initial support is limited; only explicit parameters are handled
currently.
`CarbonExternalASTSource::GetOrExportFunctionToCpp` now generates a
`clang::FunctionTemplateDecl` for generic Carbon functions. If C++ code
attempts to call that templated function,
`CarbonExternalASTSource::LoadExternalSpecializations` will be called
with the template argument types of that call site. Then we can generate
a specialized thunk for those argument types for C++ to call.
Each file dump now starts with a `; ---` comment and ends with a blank
line. This makes it easier to visually scan the dump for a file of
interest. The comment format is somewhat arbitrary; I chose `---` to
align with the `--- filename.carbon` separator in SemIR dumps, but
without the filename, because that appears on each of the next two lines
already.
Chandler Carruth
Nicholas Bishop
Geoff Romer
David Blaikie
Richard Smith