Native modules

Contents

How a Program becomes Rust, in parts. Start with the introduction, then follow each part into the rendered output and the runtime it links against.

• Introduction — what the Rust target is, and how to read the rest of this section.
• Capabilities — which high-level features are possible, built in or through a crate.
• Example — a full program using every keyword, and the Rust it renders to.
• Naming considerations — how Program's dotted names are carried into Rust.
• Entry point — starting a program from main with its drivers.
• Drivers — the native drivers that provide the interface, console and network.
• Runtime — the Reactive and Context machinery the rendered code links against.
• Native modules — the hand-written Rust behind NATIVE functions.
• Keywords — how each of Program's keywords renders to Rust.
• Project setup — the files and commands to build and run the rendered program.
• Reserved words — the words Rust keeps for itself, and how a colliding name is escaped.

Hand-written Rust behind NATIVE

A NATIVE function needs a rust NATIVE body before it can be built for Rust; that hand-written body is dropped in where the function is called, wrapped so its inputs arrive as owned Rust values. As on JavaScript, the drivers are native code too, and the runtime (Reactive, Context) is itself a native crate the rest builds on.