Add `cargo gen-kinds` documentation

7 files changed, 43 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/.cargo/config b/.cargo/config
index 767045bdb..ac7470c7e 100644
--- a/.cargo/config
+++ b/.cargo/config
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 [alias]
+# Automatically generates the ast and syntax kinds files
 gen-kinds =    "run --package tools -- gen-kinds"
 gen-tests =    "run --package tools -- gen-tests"
 install-code = "run --package tools -- install-code"
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 41954c02e..c044001ca 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ are some areas where contributions would be **especially** welcome:
 * Porting libsyntax parser to rust-analyzer: currently rust-analyzer parses
   only a tiny subset of Rust. This should be fixed by porting parsing
   functions from libsyntax one by one. Take a look at the
-  [libsyntax parser](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/6b99adeb11313197f409b4f7c4083c2ceca8a4fe/src/libsyntax/parse/parser.rs)
+  [libsyntax parser]
   for "what to port" and at the
-  [Kotlin parser](https://github.com/JetBrains/kotlin/blob/4d951de616b20feca92f3e9cc9679b2de9e65195/compiler/frontend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/parsing/KotlinParsing.java)
+  [Kotlin parser]
   for "how to port".
 
 * Writing validators: by design, rust-analyzer is very lax about the
@@ -35,4 +35,23 @@ are some areas where contributions would be **especially** welcome:
 Do take a look at the issue tracker.
 
 If you don't know where to start, or have *any* questions or suggestions,
-don't hesitate to chat at [Gitter](https://gitter.im/libsyntax2/Lobby)!
+don't hesitate to chat at [Gitter]!
+
+# Code generation
+
+Some of the components of this repository are generated through automatic processes. These are outlined below:
+
+ - `gen-kinds`: The kinds of tokens are reused in several places, so a generator is used.
+   This process uses [tera] to generate, using data in [grammar.ron], the files:  
+   - [ast/generated.rs][ast generated] in `ra_syntax` based on [ast/generated.tera.rs][ast source]
+   - [syntax_kinds/generated.rs][syntax_kinds generated] in `ra_syntax` based on [syntax_kinds/generated.tera.rs][syntax_kinds source]
+
+[libsyntax parser]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/6b99adeb11313197f409b4f7c4083c2ceca8a4fe/src/libsyntax/parse/parser.rs
+[Kotlin parser]: https://github.com/JetBrains/kotlin/blob/4d951de616b20feca92f3e9cc9679b2de9e65195/compiler/frontend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/parsing/KotlinParsing.java
+[Gitter]: https://gitter.im/libsyntax2/Lobby
+[tera]: https://tera.netlify.com/
+[grammar.ron]: ./crates/ra_syntax/src/grammar.ron
+[ast generated]: ./crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs
+[ast source]: ./crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.tera.rs
+[syntax_kinds generated]: ./crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs
+[syntax_kinds source]: ./crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.tera.rs
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs b/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs
index c945c094a..2db6dff1b 100644
--- a/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs
+++ b/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+// This file is automatically generated based on the file `./generated.rs.tera` when `cargo gen-kinds` is run
+// Do not edit manually
+
 use {
     ast,
     SyntaxNodeRef, AstNode,
diff --git a/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs.tera b/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs.tera
index a72e9b732..ceb2cd7e2 100644
--- a/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs.tera
+++ b/crates/ra_syntax/src/ast/generated.rs.tera
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+{# THIS File is not automatically generated:
+the below applies to the result of this template
+#}// This file is automatically generated based on the file `./generated.rs.tera` when `cargo gen-kinds` is run
+// Do not edit manually
+
 use {
     ast,
     SyntaxNodeRef, AstNode,
diff --git a/crates/ra_syntax/src/grammar.ron b/crates/ra_syntax/src/grammar.ron
index 77ae4c7db..4b990fd8d 100644
--- a/crates/ra_syntax/src/grammar.ron
+++ b/crates/ra_syntax/src/grammar.ron
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+// Stores definitions which must be used in multiple places
+// See `cargo gen-kinds` (defined in crates/tools/src/main.rs)
 Grammar(
     single_byte_tokens: [
         [";", "SEMI"],
@@ -23,8 +25,9 @@ Grammar(
         ["^", "CARET"],
         ["%", "PERCENT"],
     ],
+    // TODO: Confirm surmision: the tokens which cannot be recorded in a single UTF-8 byte
     multi_byte_tokens: [
-        [".", "DOT"],
+        [".", "DOT"], // Note: DOT is here because <TODO: REASON>
         ["..", "DOTDOT"],
         ["...", "DOTDOTDOT"],
         ["..=", "DOTDOTEQ"],
diff --git a/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs b/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs
index 7882bded9..11e9150bb 100644
--- a/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs
+++ b/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+// This file is automatically generated based on the file `./generated.rs.tera` when `cargo gen-kinds` is run
+// Do not edit manually
+
 #![allow(bad_style, missing_docs, unreachable_pub)]
 #![cfg_attr(rustfmt, rustfmt_skip)]
 use super::SyntaxInfo;
diff --git a/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs.tera b/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs.tera
index 90618721a..018564b8a 100644
--- a/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs.tera
+++ b/crates/ra_syntax/src/syntax_kinds/generated.rs.tera
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+{# THIS File is not automatically generated:
+the below applies to the result of this template
+#}// This file is automatically generated based on the file `./generated.rs.tera` when `cargo gen-kinds` is run
+// Do not edit manually
+
 #![allow(bad_style, missing_docs, unreachable_pub)]
 #![cfg_attr(rustfmt, rustfmt_skip)]
 use super::SyntaxInfo;