Modularization

[eggrobin]

We have now switched to C++20; we should investigate modules to see if we can improve compilation times, and to get rid of the internal_file_name namespaces designed to hide convenience usings.

Overall, our current meow.hpp + meow_body.hpp (+ meow.cpp in some cases) should correspond to a module meow.

One could have hoped that the _body could be relegated to a module partition. Unfortunately, a look at N4868 shows that we cannot put those definitions that we had to put in headers in separate files; see below.

This means we will still have to resort to textual inclusion for the _body.hpp.

Prerequisites, which we should deal with prior to starting the great cosmic modularization:

• [ ] Since the .ixx files must be compiled, in order to stop the spread of the « cbrt.cpp in every project » mess, we will have to put them into shared items projects referenced by whatever needs them. #3323.
• [ ] For clarity (and also to avoid some of the « no diagnostic required » ill formedness cited below), everything exported by module principia.cats.meow should be in namespace principia::cats::meow. This entails restructuring our current namespace structure. #3321.
• [ ] We should get rid of special include orders and forward-declarations to the extent possible. Where that is impossible, such tangles must exceptionally constitute a single module unit (via textual inclusion as needed). #3322.

On the unusability of module partitions

6.3 [basic.def.odr]

11. A definition domain is a private-module-fragment or the portion of a translation unit excluding its private-module-fragment (if any). A definition of an inline function or variable shall be reachable from the end of every definition domain in which it is odr-used outside of a discarded statement.

6.6 [basic.link]

1. A program consists of one or more translation units (5.1) linked together. A translation unit consists of a sequence of declarations.

   translation-unit:
           declaration-seqopt
           global-module-fragmentopt module-declaration declaration-seqopt private-module-fragmentopt

9.2.8 [dcl.inline]

5. […] If a function or variable with external or module linkage is declared inline in one definition domain, an inline declaration of it shall be reachable from the end of every definition domain in which it is declared; no diagnostic is required.
7. If an inline function or variable that is attached to a named module is declared in a definition domain, it shall be defined in that domain.

   [Note 4 : A constexpr function (9.2.6) is implicitly inline […]. — end note]

13.1 [temp.pre]

10. A definition of a function template, member function of a class template, variable template, or static data member of a class template shall be reachable from the end of every definition domain (6.3) in which it is implicitly instantiated (13.9.2) unless the corresponding specialization is explicitly instantiated (13.9.3) in some translation unit; no diagnostic is required.

[eggrobin]

I think 9.2.8 7 is the only thing there which requires definition in the definition domain, as opposed to definition reachable from (the end of) the definition domain. This is weird.

[eggrobin]

One could have hoped that the _body could be relegated to a module partition. Unfortunately, a look at N4868 shows that we cannot put those definitions that we had to put in headers in separate files; see below.

Also, clang does not yet support module partitions.

[eggrobin]

10.1

7 A module is either a named module or the global module. A declaration is attached to a module as follows: (7.1) — If the declaration (7.1.1) — is a replaceable global allocation or deallocation function (17.6.3.2, 17.6.3.3), or (7.1.2) — is a namespace-definition with external linkage, or (7.1.3) — appears within a linkage-specification, it is attached to the global module. (7.2) — Otherwise, the declaration is attached to the module in whose purview it appears.

6.6

9 Two names that are the same (6.1) and that are declared in different scopes shall denote the same variable, function, type, template or namespace if (9.1) — both names have external or module linkage and are declared in declarations attached to the same module, or else both names have internal linkage and are declared in the same translation unit; and (9.2) — both names refer to members of the same namespace or to members, not by inheritance, of the same class; and (9.3) — when both names denote functions or function templates, the signatures (3.51, 3.53) are the same. If multiple declarations of the same name with external linkage would declare the same entity except that they are attached to different modules, the program is ill-formed; no diagnostic is required. 10 If a declaration would redeclare a reachable declaration attached to a different module, the program is ill-formed. […] As a consequence of these rules, all declarations of an entity are attached to the same module; the entity is said to be attached to that module.

I think this means that we cannot forward-declare things from another module.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/67952223/c-modules-forward-declaring-entity-from-another-module seems to say as much.

This means that we cannot have inter-module friendships of templatized (and inline, constexpr, etc.) classes and functions.