Document SemanticScope

Author: matklad

crates/hir/src/semantics.rs

@@ -697,6 +697,25 @@ fn find_root(node: &SyntaxNode) -> SyntaxNode {
     node.ancestors().last().unwrap()
 }
 
+/// `SemanticScope` encapsulates the notion of a scope (the set of visible
+/// names) at a particular program point.
+///
+/// It is a bit tricky, as scopes do not really exist inside the compiler.
+/// Rather, the compiler directly computes for each reference the definition it
+/// refers to. It might transiently compute the explicit scope map while doing
+/// so, but, generally, this is not something left after the analysis.
+///
+/// However, we do very much need explicit scopes for IDE purposes --
+/// completion, at its core, lists the contents of the current scope. Notion of
+/// scope is also useful to answer question like "what would be the meaning of
+/// this piece of code if we insert into this position?".
+///
+/// So `SemanticsScope` is constructed from a specific program point (a syntax
+/// node or just a raw offset) and provides access to the set of visible names
+/// in on a somewhat best-effort basis.
+///
+/// Note that if you are wondering "what this specific existing name means?",
+/// you'd better use the `resolve_` family of methods.
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct SemanticsScope<'a> {
     pub db: &'a dyn HirDatabase,