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Avoid specialization in the metadata serialization code With the exception of a perf-only specialization for byte slices and byte vectors. This uses the same trick of introducing a new trait and having the Encodable and Decodable derives add a bound to it as used for TyEncoder/TyDecoder. The new code is clearer about which encoder/decoder uses which impl and it reduces the dependency of rustc on specialization, making it easier to remove support for specialization entirely or turn it into a construct that is only allowed for perf optimizations if we decide to do this.
The rustc_ast crate contains those things concerned purely with syntax
– that is, the AST ("abstract syntax tree"), along with some definitions for tokens and token streams, data structures/traits for mutating ASTs, and shared definitions for other AST-related parts of the compiler (like the lexer and macro-expansion).
For more information about how these things work in rustc, see the rustc dev guide: