rustdoc: Feature request: Also render the alignment under `--show-type-layout`
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- Dominant language
- Rust
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Description
Problem
It can be tedious to query the size/alignment of non-generic types (struct, enum, union), which one might want to do for many reasons. Currently, you have to do one of the following:
- Compile a crate that has access to the type in question and print the value.
- Print the value from the playground, if the crate is available there (which probably wont be the case for anything you're currently working on.)
- Inspect compiler output via
-Zprint-type-sizes.
All of these have the problem of having to compile code to get an answer.
Proposed Solution
The ideal solution would be to display the size & alignment of types in the cargo doc generated output, so you wouldn't have to build a crate.
Notes
I have no idea how feasible this is, but given that cargo doc already compiles and runs doc tests, it doesn't seem unreasonable.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by examining rustdoc's existing --show-type-layout behavior and compare it with compiler output from -Zprint-type-sizes. Trace how cargo doc renders type layout information. Done means cargo doc output reports both size and alignment for non-generic structs, enums, and unions without requiring extra code to be compiled.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- documentation
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100