This proposal clarifies some unclear aspects of the interop support for
object-like macros. In particular:
- Carbon supports importing an object-like macro if its definition can
be evaluated as a constant expression, without further restrictions on
that definition.
- When importing the result of that evaluation, C++ lvalues are imported
as references, and rvalues are imported as values.
Update the orphan rule to require a name to be defined within, or by,
the same scope as the impl declaration. Since libraries can not be
nested, this also enforces the old rule, but rejects more impl
declarations. In particular, it rejects an impl declaration in a generic
context which would have no way to provide a value for the generic
bindings it inherited from its enclosing scope, making the impl
unusable.
Discussed in open discussion
[2026-05-04](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mjllGO3ZCL4qGt9uJHUtcxKoHAGEY7Y999ie4EtBWB8/edit?tab=t.3ifnhz83n73d#heading=h.p45zfugbmdih).
Instead of requiring just one to have a designator, require each one.
You can't write `(type where A == B) & (type where C == .Self)` because
`A == B` has no designator. If the two facet types are combined into a
single `where` syntactically, their meaning does not change, and what we
allow should not change either. That is, `type where A == B and C ==
.Self` should be rejected since `A == B` does not contain a designator.
The design is also updated to make this clear.
Note that #7266 has already updated the toolchain for `char`, but not
`Core.CharLiteral`.
Assisted-by: Gemini via Antigravity
---------
Co-authored-by: Josh L <josh11b@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Geoff Romer <gromer@google.com>
We've talked about adding the title to the filename several times over
the years and it seems really valuable. This requires us to compute a
"slug" for the title spelling that can be part of the filename.
Beyond that, we crossed 7000 recently, and so it seems likely that we
will need to add digits sooner rather than later here, so this goes
ahead and moves us to 6 digits so we don't have to adjust again for a
reasonable length of time.
To implement this and ensure we can sustain it going forward this adds a
tool to our pre-commit that validates (and corrects if needed) the
filename.
In order to update everything and keep links working, there are a _lot_
of changes, but the most interesting for direct review are in
`proposals/scripts`.
Assisted-by: Antigravity with Gemini
---------
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
Update the syntax for class (and interface/`impl`) methods to move
`self` into
the parameter parentheses `()` and make the type in its binding optional
(defaulting to `Self`). Introduce the `static` keyword for non-instance
member
variables to indicate static storage. Reflects the decision in leads
issue
[#6931](https://github.com/carbon-language/carbon-lang/issues/6931).
Updates the directly relevant design, but leaves a systematic update of
examples
to a future PR.
Assisted-by: Antigravity with Gemini
---------
Co-authored-by: Geoff Romer <gromer@google.com>
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
Allow partially identifying a named constraint inside its definition,
and allow the query self in an impl lookup with a non-identified facet
type to be used to provide witnesses from that facet type. This allows
impl lookup on `Self` to find `require` decls that have been written
earlier in the named constraint, so that the named constraint to be used
to provide witnesses from inside its definition.
But disallow an incomplete named constraint from being part of an
identified facet type, to prevent forming facet values that store a
witness set that can be invalidated as the named constraint adds
interfaces to its identified facet type.
This was discussed in open discussion [on
2026-03-12](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mjllGO3ZCL4qGt9uJHUtcxKoHAGEY7Y999ie4EtBWB8/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.1dvbbrp5a6t3).
---------
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
This proposal defines the concrete technical mechanisms for C++
interoperability. It specifies the precise syntax and semantics for
importing
C++ APIs. This includes the `import Cpp library "..."` and implicitly
importing
C++ built-in entities, and the establishment of the `Cpp` package as the
dedicated namespace for all imported entities.
This PR also includes high level language C++ Interop design and the
basics of importing C++ APIs and function calling.
Leaving plenty of TODOs to make it easier to fill in more details in
followups.
Part of #4666.
---------
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
Co-authored-by: Carbon Infra Bot <carbon-external-infra@google.com>
This proposal introduces the concept of a _form_, which is a
generalization of
"type" that encompasses all of the information about an expression
that's
visible to the type system, including type and expression category.
Forms can be
composed into _tuple forms_ and _struct forms_, which lets us track the
categories of individual tuple and struct literal elements.
The proposal PR also adds `ref` bindings to the pattern matching
documentation,
but that is not part of the proposal itself; it's just bringing the
documentation
up to date with proposal
[#5434](https://github.com/carbon-language/carbon-lang/pull/5434).
---------
Co-authored-by: josh11b <15258583+josh11b@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Chandler Carruth <chandlerc@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
Co-authored-by: Carbon Infra Bot <carbon-external-infra@google.com>
This proposal removes the definition of the term "value binding" as a
primitive
category conversion from reference to value, replacing it with the term
"value
acquisition". The other meaning of "value binding", a binding declared
by a
value binding pattern, is unchanged.
Proposal [p5337](https://docs.carbon-lang.dev/proposals/p5337.html)
renamed and introduced new syntax for extending an interface or named
constraint with another.
- The `require` keyword can now be modified by `extend`, instead of it
being a separate thing altogether.
- Interfaces can `extend impl as I` to gain the members of `I` and
implicitly use them to implement `I`. Named constraints can not.
The `Identity` example is meant to not know anything about the type of
the object its passing through, but it ends up making a copy of it. Fix
the example to not by using a pointer.
~~Added explanatory comment about math package usage~~
Changed Main() entry point to Run() as per design and toolchain
This small update of front page code snippets will add
explanatory comment to highlight that provided Carbon code
is hypothetical and meant to show the look and feel of the language.
Also it delivers change of Main() to Run() to
highlight correct entry point for Carbon lang.
Updates the documentation under `docs/design/` to use `ref` instead of
`addr` after their removal in #5434. Care was taken to manually clean up
edge cases and, in a couple cases, surrounding text (see
3d72c49bb75c0f40ca7e8114b6a1369b941e1697). After this change, there are
no matches for `addr(?!ess)` in `docs/design/`.
Closes#6032
Require language design proposals to either update the design documents
to
reflect the proposed changes, or add "TODO" comments to mark where those
changes
will be needed, with links back to the proposal. This is intended to
ensure that
the design documentation accurately informs readers about the current
language
design, without excessively burdening the proposal process.
---------
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
# Changes
## Terminology Updates
This PR updates documentation to align with the expression phase
terminology changes introduced in
[#2964](https://github.com/carbon-language/carbon-lang/pull/2964):
* **"symbolic value" → "symbolic constant"**: Updated all remaining
instances using find-and-replace
## Scope of Changes
* Focused on documentation that predates the July 2023 terminology
change
* Used git blame history to identify instances likely using the old
"constant" definition
* Manually reviewed each "constant" usage to distinguish between:
- New definition (unchanged): the broader category including symbolic
constants
Closes
[#5599](https://github.com/carbon-language/carbon-lang/issues/5599)
---------
Co-authored-by: Hitesh Joshi <hitesh@mitsu.care>
This proposal renames the syntax used to mark an overriding definition
of a virtual method from `impl fn` to `override fn` to avoid ambiguity:
besides indicating an overriding virtual function, it can be parsed as
an "impl" declaration when the construct following "impl" begins with a
lambda introduced by "fn".
Closes#5711
---------
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
Carbon is accelerating and adjusting its safety strategy, specifically
to flesh out its memory safety strategy and reflect simplifying
developments in the safety space.
This proposal replaces the previous directional safety strategy with a
new concrete and updated framework for the safety design. It includes a
specific framework for memory safety, simplified build modes, specific
"safety modes", and terminology.
This proposal also provides a _directional_ suggestion for temporal and
data-race safety specifically.
In addition to fully building out the above directional component, there
are several other aspects of our safety design that will follow in
subsequent proposals. The hope is to establish the initial framework
here.
---------
Co-authored-by: Dana Jansens <danakj@orodu.net>
Co-authored-by: josh11b <15258583+josh11b@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Mike Forster <michael@forster.pro>
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
- A parameter binding can be marked `ref` instead of `var` or the
default. It will bind to reference argument expressions in the caller
and produces a reference expression in the callee.
- Unlike pointers, a `ref` binding can't be rebound to a different
object.
- This replaces `addr`, and is not restricted to the `self` parameter.
- A `ref` binding, like a value binding, can't be used in fields of
classes or structs.
- When calling functions, arguments to non-`self` `ref` parameters are
also marked with `ref`.
- The return of a function can optionally be marked `ref`, `val`, or
`var`. These control the category of the call expression invoking the
function, and how the return expression is returned.
- These may be mixed for functions returning tuple or struct forms.
- The address of a `ref` binding is `nocapture` and `noalias`.
- We mark parameters of a function that may be referenced by the return
value with `bound`.
---------
Co-authored-by: Josh L <josh11b@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Geoff Romer <gromer@google.com>
Co-authored-by: Chandler Carruth <chandlerc@gmail.com>
In open discussion[1] we decided that "identical" rewrites would mean
that for a given LHS value, all RHS have the same value (after
evaluation), rather than requiring the RHS to all have the same
syntactic value. This means the following is valid, since the value of
`.Y` is known to be `()` while resolving the rewrite constraints of `T`.
So both rewrites of `.X` are resolved to `.X = ()`:
```
fn Identical(T:! I where .X = () and .X = .Y and .Y = ()) {}
```
The implementation of this clarification, along with test cases encoding
it, is done in https://github.com/carbon-language/carbon-lang/pull/5686.
Clarify this in the language design documents, and improve some other
clarity while we're there:
- The prose talks about a facet `T`, but the examples were using `A` as
its name. Change the facet to be `T`. This means changing the `.T`
associated constant (and `.U` and `.V`) to be `.X` (and `.Y` and `.Z`).
While doing this, use `I` for the interface name instead of `C`, which
we use more commonly for a class type name.
- Correct the comments in the cycle example that claim we find `.Y then
.Y* then .Y**`. In this example `.Y = .Z* and .Z = .Y*` which adds _two_
levels of pointers when evaluating `.Y`: `.Y => .Z* => (.Y*)* => .Y**`
[1]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yt-i5AmF76LSvD4TrWRIAE_92kii6j5yFiW-S7ahzlg/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.qti4vn50zwy
---------
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
Co-authored-by: Carbon Infra Bot <carbon-external-infra@google.com>
This proposal re-affirms (with additional rationale) that a `var`
pattern
declares a durable complete object, and refines the terminology for
binding
patterns in a `var` pattern to be more explicit about the intended
semantics. It
also makes several other changes and clarifications to the semantics of
pattern
matching on objects:
- The storage for a variable pattern is initialized eagerly, rather than
being
deferred until the end of pattern matching.
- Any initializing expressions in the scrutinee of a `match` statement
are
materialized before matching the `case`s.
- An initializing expression can only initialize temporary storage or a
single
variable pattern, not a tuple/struct pattern or a subobject of a
variable
pattern. Removing this limitation is left as future work.
Finally, as a drive-by fix, it clarifies what parts of the `match`
design are
still placeholders.
---------
Co-authored-by: Jon Ross-Perkins <jperkins@google.com>
Fix destructor syntax ambiguity by switching to `fn destroy` mirroring
standard function syntax. This is a purely syntactic change, maintaining
destructor semantics.
This comes from leads question #4999
---------
Co-authored-by: Chandler Carruth <chandlerc@gmail.com>
I believe this reflects the intent, but the phrasing of "even if
`MyBaseClass` is not" implies that `MyBaseClass` _can_ be final in
`partial MyBaseClass`. Also, make clear it's allowed on `abstract`
classes, not only `base` (this seems explicitly intended from the
`MyAbstractClass` example around line 1482).
Introduce a principle that the Carbon language should not encroach on
the
developer's namespace. Satisfy this principle by making `Core` a
keyword.
---------
Co-authored-by: Chandler Carruth <chandlerc@gmail.com>
The WORKSPACE file is deprecated; support is already off by default, and
it'll be removed in the next major bazel release. Our main dependency is
tree-sitter, and I'm trying to address that here.
We're currently using https://github.com/elliottt/rules_tree_sitter, but
that hasn't been updated in a couple years, meaning it lacks
MODULE.bazel support. In the registry, there's
https://registry.bazel.build/modules/tree-sitter-bazel, but this is only
the *parser* libraries of tree-sitter, not the *generator*. I'm using it
for that much, at least.
For the *generator*, which transforms grammar.js to parser.c/h, I'm just
requiring a non-hermetic invocation (i.e., people who want to work on it
will need to install tree-sitter; see the README.md updates). I tried
running it manually, but parser.c is about 600 KB; pre-commit rejects
files that large and I don't think an exception makes sense to override
for this (it'd probably also grow substantially if the grammar were
updated to cover more syntax). In order to make the non-hermetic call
not break "bazel build //..." for most developers, I'm marking most
targets in the package as manual.
Note, I did look long and hard at using `aspect_rules_js`/`rules_nodejs`
to invoke npm. This took a lot of time, and I have a commit that's
mostly working, except I hit a point where it uses `declare_symlink`
which we disallow for compatibility reasons (commit "Lots of work for
figuring out rule_js uses declare_symlink" on the PR). As a consequence,
I think we can't use the primary supported ways to have hermetic npm
calls.
Also, `treesitter` -> `tree_sitter` because it's generally called
`tree-sitter`, two words. We even had a `treesitter/src/tree_sitter`
directory so it's a bit inconsistent.
As far as bugs here, the parser library breaks bazel queries, e.g. the
error:
```
ERROR: Evaluation of query "somepath(//..., @llvm-project//third-party/unittest:gtest)" failed: preloading transitive closure failed: no such package '@@[unknown repo 'platforms' requested from @@tree-sitter-bazel+]//': The repository '@@[unknown repo 'platforms' requested from @@tree-sitter-bazel+]' could not be resolved: No repository visible as '@platforms' from repository '@@tree-sitter-bazel+'
```
I'm just excluding tree_sitter from queries where I can to work around
the error.
Proposes a set of core features for declaring and implementing generic
variadic
functions.
A "pack expansion" is a syntactic unit beginning with `...`, which is a
kind of
compile-time loop over sequences called "packs". Packs are initialized
and
referred to using "pack bindings", which are marked with the `each`
keyword at
the point of declaration and the point of use.
The syntax and behavior of a pack expansion depends on its context, and
in some
cases by a keyword following the `...`:
- In a tuple literal expression (such as a function call argument list),
`...`
iteratively evaluates its operand expression, and treats the values as
successive elements of the tuple.
- `...and` and `...or` iteratively evaluate a boolean expression,
combining
the values using `and` and `or`, and ending the loop early if the
underlying
operator short-circuits.
- In a statement context, `...` iteratively executes a statement.
- In a tuple literal pattern (such as a function parameter list), `...`
iteratively matches the elements of the scrutinee tuple. In conjunction
with
pack bindings, this enables functions to take an arbitrary number of
arguments.
---------
Co-authored-by: josh11b <josh11b@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Richard Smith <richard@metafoo.co.uk>
Co-authored-by: josh11b <15258583+josh11b@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Chandler Carruth <chandlerc@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Carbon Infra Bot <carbon-external-infra@google.com>
Geoff Romer
Dana Jansens
Chandler CarruthandRichard Smith
Jon Ross-Perkins
Özgür
Burak EmirandDana Jansens
gleb
Calvin
Hitesh JoshiandHitesh Joshi
Elliott KaltandRichard Smith
pascal754
Ivan Duranandjosh11b