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RunMat Standard Library Design

This document describes how built-in MATLAB functions are implemented in the RunMat project. The goal is to mirror the behaviour of the MATLAB language while keeping the codebase maintainable and approachable.

Organization

Each group of built-ins lives in its own crate under crates/. For example runmat-plot implements plotting related functions. Future crates will cover math operations, file I/O and more. Functions are written in plain Rust and exposed to the runtime via a thin attribute macro. Metadata about each builtin is stored in the runmat-builtins crate using the inventory pattern so the runtime can populate its global context automatically.

Declaring Functions

Use the matlab_fn attribute from the runmat-macros crate to clearly mark the MATLAB name for every exported function. The macro registers the function in the runmat-builtins inventory so the runtime can discover and document it:

use runmat_macros::matlab_fn;

#[matlab_fn(name = "plot")]
pub fn plot_line(xs: &[f64], ys: &[f64], path: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
    // implementation
}

The attribute attaches documentation so readers immediately know which MATLAB builtin is implemented and records the mapping for the runtime. Additional metadata can be added later without rewriting existing code.

Adding New Crates

  1. Create a new crate under crates/ using kebab-case naming (e.g. runmat-linear-algebra).
  2. Add the crate to the workspace members in the root Cargo.toml.
  3. Implement the functions, annotating each with #[matlab_fn(name = "...")].
  4. Provide comprehensive unit tests covering typical usage, error cases and edge conditions. Tests live in crates/<name>/tests/.
  5. Update PLAN.md with a short entry summarising the addition.

Testing Guidelines

Tests should exercise both success and failure paths. Prefer temporary files and in-memory data so tests remain hermetic. Running cargo test --all from the repository root must succeed without network access. For macros or other compile-time utilities, use the trybuild crate to verify that misuse results in helpful compile errors.

Style

  • Follow Rustfmt defaults (cargo fmt).
  • Keep functions small and focused.
  • Document any deviations from MATLAB behaviour in code comments.

Following this methodology ensures a consistent, readable and easily extensible standard library.