Merge pull request #551 from chrissimpkins/rustc-dev-guide-overview

New Post: rustc-dev-guide Overview

Author: nikomatsakis

posts/inside-rust/2020-03-26-rustc-dev-guide-overview.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "rustc-dev-guide Overview"
+author: "Chris Simpkins"
+description: "2020-03-26 rustc-dev-guide Overview"
+team: the Learning Working Group <https://www.rust-lang.org/governance/teams/compiler#wg-learning>
+---
+
+The `rustc` compiler includes over 380,000 lines of source across more than 40 crates<sup>1</sup> to support the lexing through binary linking stages of the Rust compile process. It is daunting for newcomers, and we recognize that a high-level survey of the pipeline is warranted.
+
+In our [December update](https://blog.rust-lang.org/inside-rust/2019/12/20/wg-learning-update.html), we announced plans for the publication of the "rustc-dev-guide Overview". Our goal is to describe the integrated components of the compiler in a high-level document for users and potential developers. The Overview will be published at the beginning of the [rustc-dev-guide](https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/) to orient readers to the more detailed documentation of the compiler in subsequent chapters.
+
+## Rustc Overview Structure
+
+We will break the compiler down to address two questions at a high-level:
+
+1. What does the compiler do to your source code?
+2. How does the compiler do it?
+
+As we address these general areas, we will provide a synopsis that briefly covers frequent community questions like:
+
+- What are the conflicting goals of the compiler, and how are issues like compiler speed, compiler memory usage, program speed, program size, and compiler stability/correctness balanced?
+- What are the stages of the compile process, and how do they fit together?
+- What are the intermediate representations of my source code?
+- What happens to generics during the compile process?
+- What kind of optimizations are performed during the compile process?
+- How does incremental compilation work?
+- Does `rustc` have support for parallel compilation?
+
+## Get Involved!
+
+Work is in progress on the Overview, and we need your help. A working draft of the document is available in [this pull request](https://github.com/rust-lang/rustc-dev-guide/pull/633) on the `rustc-dev-guide` GitHub repository.
+
+If there is an area of `rustc` that you would like to understand better and it is appropriate for an overview document, please open an issue on our [issue tracker](https://github.com/rust-lang/rustc-dev-guide/issues) to let us know.
+
+And if you know the compiler and want to pitch in on the rustc-dev-guide Overview, open a pull request with your revisions. We welcome your contributions and look forward to your participation!
+
+## Interested in Learning (Working Group)?
+
+Are you interested in learning more about the `rustc` compiler and teaching others? Drop by our [Zulip stream](https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/196385-t-compiler.2Fwg-learning) and say hello!
+
+---
+
+<sup>1</sup> These numbers account for lines in Rust files across all dependencies necessary to build `rustc`. Thanks to @LeSeulArtichaut for these calculations! See [the notes on Zulip](https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/196385-t-compiler.2Fwg-learning/topic/The.20Rustc.20Overview.3A.20blog.20post/near/189441101) for additional details.