RFC: -C export-executable-symbols

Author: MaulingMonkey

text/0000-export-executable-symbols.md

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+- Feature Name: export-executable-symbols
+- Start Date: 2019-12-28
+- RFC PR: [rust-lang/rfcs#0000](https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs/pull/0000)
+- Rust Issue: [rust-lang/rust#0000](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/0000)
+
+# Summary
+[summary]: #summary
+
+Add the ability to export symbols from executables, not just dylibs, via a new
+compiler flag: `-C export-executable-symbols`.
+
+# Motivation
+[motivation]: #motivation
+
+Java and C# can't statically link against C/Rust code.  Both require dylib
+symbols for their common native interop solution.  Which is fine if you let
+their executables call your dylib, but is a problem if you want your Rust
+executable to load a JVM instance, and let it call back into your executable.
+You might want to do this to allow you to:
+* Load multiple language runtimes into the same process (Rust + C# + Java + Lua anyone?  Only one of them can be the entry executable...)
+* Display user-friendly error messages if language runtimes are missing (maybe even a download link!)
+* [#[test] Java/Rust interop via cargo test.](https://github.com/MaulingMonkey/jerk/blob/04250c9d1b6ccc292eb27663f70919345c31007f/example-hello-world-jar/src/Global.rs)
+
+For this last case, I
+[manually export](https://github.com/MaulingMonkey/jerk/blob/04250c9d1b6ccc292eb27663f70919345c31007f/example-hello-world-jar/exports.def)
+executable symbols via
+[LINK](https://github.com/MaulingMonkey/jerk/blob/04250c9d1b6ccc292eb27663f70919345c31007f/example-hello-world-jar/build.rs#L4).
+This is ugly, brittle, and rustc
+[already knows](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/a916ac22b9f7f1f0f7aba0a41a789b3ecd765018/src/librustc_codegen_ssa/back/linker.rs#L706-L717)
+how to do this automatically, across more platforms, and better.
+
+# Guide-level explanation
+[guide-level-explanation]: #guide-level-explanation
+
+https://doc.rust-lang.org/rustc/codegen-options/index.html could gain:
+
+```md
+## export-executable-symbols
+
+This flag causes `rustc` to export symbols from executables, as if they were dynamic libraries.
+
+You might use this to allow the JVM or MSCLR to call back into your executable's
+Rust code from Java/C# when embedding their runtimes into your Rust executable.
+```
+
+`rustc -C help` could gain:
+
+```
+    -C    export-executable-symbols -- export symbols from executables, as if they were dynamic libraries.
+```
+
+My Java interop [Quick Start](https://github.com/MaulingMonkey/jerk/blob/master/Readme.md#quick-start)
+would start recommending a `.cargo/config` with:
+```toml
+[build]
+rustflags = ["-C", "export-executable-symbols"]
+```
+
+# Reference-level explanation
+[reference-level-explanation]: #reference-level-explanation
+
+On a technical level, this just involves preventing an early bailout when
+calling `fn export_symbols` on executables with MSVC or GNU linker backends.
+Other linker backends (EmLinker, WasmLd, PtxLinker) do not have this early
+bailout in the first place, and remain unaffected.
+
+# Drawbacks
+[drawbacks]: #drawbacks
+
+* Options bloat
+* The burden of supporting a niche use-case in hideously platform specific code
+
+# Rationale and alternatives
+[rationale-and-alternatives]: #rationale-and-alternatives
+
+This is *very* simple to implement, leverages existing code to enable it to do exactly what it was meant to do, and has few drawbacks.
+
+Alternatives:
+
+- Unconditionally export symbols from executables instead of introducing a new compiler flag.
+- Write *yet another* cargo subcommand to install/remember for interop testing instead of using cargo test.
+- Write interop tests exclusively as integration tests, in an entirely separate crate, that can load the testee as a dylib.
+- Continue abusing LINK, writing a tool to auto-generate .defs via build scripts - possibly by reading metadata from other tools.
+- Use nightly link-args instead of LINK, but still write a .def generator.
+- Remember to always cargo build a dylib copy of a crate manually before cargo test ing, and load that instead.
+  (That would also add a whole second copy of all functions and static vars in the same unit test process!)
+
+# Prior art
+[prior-art]: #prior-art
+
+C and C++ compilers can already do this via `__declspec(dllexport)` annotations.
+Most people don't really notice it, for good or for ill.
+
+# Unresolved questions
+[unresolved-questions]: #unresolved-questions
+
+- Is this a good name for it?
+- Should it be more general and export when limit_rdylib_exports or crate_type == ProcMacro?
+
+# Future possibilities
+[future-possibilities]: #future-possibilities
+
+Maybe other options to control what symbols get exported?  Although I'd fear
+turning rustc into yet another linker script implementation, so maybe not.
+
+My own building atop this in the wider language ecosystem would be for improved
+Java/Rust interop/testing, with the eventual goal of improved Android API
+support for Rust.  Many APIs are only exposed via Java, and I'd like said APIs
+to be usable in a safe and sound fashion.