jolt/docs/rfc/0002-reader-conditional-features.md
Yogthos 33eff7c7d8 Clean up codebase: rename stdlib layer, strip porting residue, fix tooling
Rename src/jolt -> stdlib (the runtime-loaded layer; jolt-core stays the
seed-baked layer) and update the loader / emit-image / doc paths. Drop dead
code: the spike/ experiments, the duplicate clojuredocs-export.edn (json moves
to tools/), the Janet-era jolt.http binding, and the orphaned
persistent_vector.clj whose ns/path didn't even match.

Strip porting residue from comments and docstrings across host/chez, jolt-core,
stdlib, tests, and docs: internal issue ids, "Phase N" markers, and the "vs
Janet" historical exposition, leaving present-tense descriptions and the real
JVM-Clojure semantic contrasts. Same pass over the corpus suite labels. The seed
is unchanged (docstrings/comments aren't emitted), so the self-host fixpoint and
corpus are untouched.

Port tools/spec_coverage.py off the dead janet probe to bin/joltc and regenerate
coverage.md; drop the dead :host/janet rule from certify.clj and regenerate the
conformance profile. Add docs/host-interop.md (the JVM shims and how to register
your own host class from a library) and a writing-style note in CLAUDE.md.

Stabilize the four racy concurrency corpus cases (future-cancel and agent
send/send-off): give the future a sleeping body and the agent a slow action, so
cancel reliably catches an in-flight future and deref reliably reads the
pre-update snapshot. They certify deterministically now, so drop their :flaky
allowlist entries and the orphaned legend.
2026-06-22 22:18:00 -04:00

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# RFC 0002 — Reader-Conditional Feature Set
- **Status**: Accepted (implemented; measured)
- **Created**: 2026-06-10
- **Spec**: `docs/spec/02-reader.md` §2.3 S18
## Summary
jolt's reader-conditional feature set is **`#{:jolt :default}`**, matched in
**clause order** (the first clause whose key the platform satisfies wins).
A loading context may opt a foreign, clj-targeted library into `:clj`
compatibility via `reader-features-set!` (or process-wide via the
`JOLT_FEATURES` environment variable). jolt does **not** satisfy `:clj` by
default.
## Background
`#?(:clj … :cljs … :default …)` selects a branch by platform feature at read
time. Until now jolt satisfied `:clj` — a compatibility shortcut inheriting
the JVM branches of `.cljc` files, on the theory that the `:clj` branch is
usually the "main" implementation. Each dialect chooses its own policy:
ClojureScript satisfies only `:cljs`; jank uses `:jank`; babashka includes
`:clj` because it genuinely is JVM-Clojure-compatible to a deep degree.
Two defects forced the decision:
1. jolt is *not* JVM-compatible where it matters for `:clj` branches: they
contain interop (`java.util.*`, `deftype` over JVM classes) and encode
JVM-specific *expectations* in tests (e.g. `parse-uuid`'s reference
permissiveness), both of which jolt fails.
2. The old implementation also matched by **key priority** (`:clj` first,
then `:default`) rather than clause order — `#?(:default 5 :clj 6)` read
as `6`, diverging from Clojure on all platforms.
## Decision and evidence
Measured A/B over the cross-dialect clojure-test-suite (identical tree,
2026-06-10):
| Feature set | Assertions reached | Pass | Fail | Error | Clean files |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `clj, default` (old) | 4967 | 4324 | 524 | 119 | 78 |
| `jolt, default` (new) | **5069** | **4470** | **518** | **81** | **86** |
The portable convention reads *more* of the suite (`:default` branches were
being shadowed by `:clj` ones jolt can't satisfy) and improves every metric:
+146 passes, 38 errors, +8 clean files. The `:clj` shortcut was a net
liability, not a compatibility win.
The opposing case — loading real-world clj-targeted libraries — is real:
SCI's `.cljc` sources select their implementation via `#?(:clj …)`/`:cljs`
with no `:jolt` branches, and fail to load under the portable set. That is a
property of the **loading context**, not of the platform: the resolution is
per-context opt-in, exactly how the SCI bootstrap now loads
(`(reader-features-set! ["jolt" "clj" "default"])`).
## Specification (normative, mirrored in spec §2.3 S18)
1. The platform feature set is implementation-defined and MUST be
documented. jolt's is `#{:jolt :default}`.
2. Matching MUST be by clause order: the first clause whose key is in the
feature set wins. `:default` matches on every platform.
`#?(:default 5 :clj 6)` is `5` everywhere.
3. An unmatched conditional reads as nothing (no form); an unmatched
`#?@(…)` splices nothing.
4. Implementations SHOULD provide a per-loading-context override so foreign
libraries written for other dialects can be read under a compatibility
set; using it is a deliberate, scoped decision (jolt:
`reader-features-set!` / `JOLT_FEATURES`).
## Consequences
- Suite baselines re-measured and raised: `baseline-pass` 4324 → 4470,
`baseline-clean-files` 78 → 86.
- Reader tests assert the portable set + clause-order semantics, plus one
opt-in round-trip through `reader-features-set!`.
- Loading clj-ecosystem libraries via deps requires deciding their feature
set; the deps loader currently inherits the process default — a future
refinement is per-dependency feature configuration (filed with the deps
work).
- `.cljc` authors targeting jolt can write `:jolt` branches and rely on
`:default` fallbacks.