Fields with reserved names

[dbrgn]

If I do serialization of the JSON object {"type": "foo", "count": 3}, the struct would have to look like that to match the field names:

struct Obj {
    type: String,
    count: u32,
}

The thing is that type is a reserved keyword, so it can't be used.

Of course I can use the Serde rename feature. But is there a convention on how to call the field instead, e.g. trailing slash (type_), leading slash (_type) or modification (typ or tipe)?

[joshtriplett]

Leading underscore has a specific meaning in Rust, namely that it suppresses warnings about something going unused. So, I'd suggest trailing underscore.

[nrc]

Personally I prefer a trailing underscore. The convention in the compiler (which faces this issue a lot) is to modify the keyword (typ, krate are widely used).

We've shied away from naming conventions here, we prefer to concentrate on purely formatting issues. This does seem like a reasonable thing to cover in the naming section of the style guide though.

[gbutler69]

C# allows you to use, @reserved instead of reserved if you want to use a reserved word as an identifier. Isn't $ a valid character for identifiers in rust? How about $reserved or $$reserved for code generated identifiers that would otherwise use reserved words?

[nrc]

Isn't $ a valid character for identifiers in rust?

I don't think it is - $ is used to identify macro variables.

[mqudsi]

Just to point out that a trailing underscore is also autocomplete-friendly for users expecting to find a function/member with a name that coincides with a reserved keyword.