# Objective > Resolves #4504 It can be helpful to have access to type information without requiring an instance of that type. Especially for `Reflect`, a lot of the gathered type information is known at compile-time and should not necessarily require an instance. ## Solution Created a dedicated `TypeInfo` enum to store static type information. All types that derive `Reflect` now also implement the newly created `Typed` trait: ```rust pub trait Typed: Reflect { fn type_info() -> &'static TypeInfo; } ``` > Note: This trait was made separate from `Reflect` due to `Sized` restrictions. If you only have access to a `dyn Reflect`, just call `.get_type_info()` on it. This new trait method on `Reflect` should return the same value as if you had called it statically. If all you have is a `TypeId` or type name, you can get the `TypeInfo` directly from the registry using the `TypeRegistry::get_type_info` method (assuming it was registered). ### Usage Below is an example of working with `TypeInfo`. As you can see, we don't have to generate an instance of `MyTupleStruct` in order to get this information. ```rust #[derive(Reflect)] struct MyTupleStruct(usize, i32, MyStruct); let info = MyTupleStruct::type_info(); if let TypeInfo::TupleStruct(info) = info { assert!(info.is::<MyTupleStruct>()); assert_eq!(std::any::type_name::<MyTupleStruct>(), info.type_name()); assert!(info.field_at(1).unwrap().is::<i32>()); } else { panic!("Expected `TypeInfo::TupleStruct`"); } ``` ### Manual Implementations It's not recommended to manually implement `Typed` yourself, but if you must, you can use the `TypeInfoCell` to automatically create and manage the static `TypeInfo`s for you (which is very helpful for blanket/generic impls): ```rust use bevy_reflect::{Reflect, TupleStructInfo, TypeInfo, UnnamedField}; use bevy_reflect::utility::TypeInfoCell; struct Foo<T: Reflect>(T); impl<T: Reflect> Typed for Foo<T> { fn type_info() -> &'static TypeInfo { static CELL: TypeInfoCell = TypeInfoCell::generic(); CELL.get_or_insert::<Self, _>(|| { let fields = [UnnamedField:🆕:<T>()]; let info = TupleStructInfo:🆕:<Self>(&fields); TypeInfo::TupleStruct(info) }) } } ``` ## Benefits One major benefit is that this opens the door to other serialization methods. Since we can get all the type info at compile time, we can know how to properly deserialize something like: ```rust #[derive(Reflect)] struct MyType { foo: usize, bar: Vec<String> } // RON to be deserialized: ( type: "my_crate::MyType", // <- We now know how to deserialize the rest of this object value: { // "foo" is a value type matching "usize" "foo": 123, // "bar" is a list type matching "Vec<String>" with item type "String" "bar": ["a", "b", "c"] } ) ``` Not only is this more compact, but it has better compatibility (we can change the type of `"foo"` to `i32` without having to update our serialized data). Of course, serialization/deserialization strategies like this may need to be discussed and fully considered before possibly making a change. However, we will be better equipped to do that now that we can access type information right from the registry. ## Discussion Some items to discuss: 1. Duplication. There's a bit of overlap with the existing traits/structs since they require an instance of the type while the type info structs do not (for example, `Struct::field_at(&self, index: usize)` and `StructInfo::field_at(&self, index: usize)`, though only `StructInfo` is accessible without an instance object). Is this okay, or do we want to handle it in another way? 2. Should `TypeInfo::Dynamic` be removed? Since the dynamic types don't have type information available at runtime, we could consider them `TypeInfo::Value`s (or just even just `TypeInfo::Struct`). The intention with `TypeInfo::Dynamic` was to keep the distinction from these dynamic types and actual structs/values since users might incorrectly believe the methods of the dynamic type's info struct would map to some contained data (which isn't possible statically). 4. General usefulness of this change, including missing/unnecessary parts. 5. Possible changes to the scene format? (One possible issue with changing it like in the example above might be that we'd have to be careful when handling generic or trait object types.) ## Compile Tests I ran a few tests to compare compile times (as suggested [here](https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy/pull/4042#discussion_r876408143)). I toggled `Reflect` and `FromReflect` derive macros using `cfg_attr` for both this PR ( |
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What is Bevy?
Bevy is a refreshingly simple data-driven game engine built in Rust. It is free and open-source forever!
WARNING
Bevy is still in the very early stages of development. APIs can and will change (now is the time to make suggestions!). Important features are missing. Documentation is sparse. Please don't build any serious projects in Bevy unless you are prepared to be broken by API changes constantly.
MSRV: Bevy relies heavily on improvements in the Rust language and compiler. As a result, the Minimum Supported Rust Version (MSRV) is "the latest stable release" of Rust.
Design Goals
- Capable: Offer a complete 2D and 3D feature set
- Simple: Easy for newbies to pick up, but infinitely flexible for power users
- Data Focused: Data-oriented architecture using the Entity Component System paradigm
- Modular: Use only what you need. Replace what you don't like
- Fast: App logic should run quickly, and when possible, in parallel
- Productive: Changes should compile quickly ... waiting isn't fun
About
- Features: A quick overview of Bevy's features.
- News: A development blog that covers our progress, plans and shiny new features.
Docs
- The Bevy Book: Bevy's official documentation. The best place to start learning Bevy.
- Bevy Rust API Docs: Bevy's Rust API docs, which are automatically generated from the doc comments in this repo.
- Official Examples: Bevy's dedicated, runnable examples, which are great for digging into specific concepts.
- Community-Made Learning Resources: More tutorials, documentation, and examples made by the Bevy community.
Community
Before contributing or participating in discussions with the community, you should familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct.
- Discord: Bevy's official discord server.
- Reddit: Bevy's official subreddit.
- GitHub Discussions: The best place for questions about Bevy, answered right here!
- Bevy Assets: A collection of awesome Bevy projects, tools, plugins and learning materials.
If you'd like to help build Bevy, check out the Contributor's Guide. For simple problems, feel free to open an issue or PR and tackle it yourself!
For more complex architecture decisions and experimental mad science, please open an RFC (Request For Comments) so we can brainstorm together effectively!
Getting Started
We recommend checking out The Bevy Book for a full tutorial.
Follow the Setup guide to ensure your development environment is set up correctly. Once set up, you can quickly try out the examples by cloning this repo and running the following commands:
# Switch to the correct version (latest release, default is main development branch)
git checkout latest
# Runs the "breakout" example
cargo run --example breakout
Fast Compiles
Bevy can be built just fine using default configuration on stable Rust. However for really fast iterative compiles, you should enable the "fast compiles" setup by following the instructions here.
Libraries Used
Bevy is only possible because of the hard work put into these foundational technologies:
- wgpu: modern / low-level / cross-platform graphics library inspired by Vulkan
- glam-rs: a simple and fast 3D math library for games and graphics
- winit: cross-platform window creation and management in Rust
- spirv-reflect: Reflection API in rust for SPIR-V shader byte code
Bevy Cargo Features
This list outlines the different cargo features supported by Bevy. These allow you to customize the Bevy feature set for your use-case.
Third Party Plugins
Plugins are very welcome to extend Bevy's features. Guidelines are available to help integration and usage.
Thanks and Alternatives
Additionally, we would like to thank the Amethyst, macroquad, coffee, ggez, Fyrox, and Piston projects for providing solid examples of game engine development in Rust. If you are looking for a Rust game engine, it is worth considering all of your options. Each engine has different design goals, and some will likely resonate with you more than others.
License
Bevy is free and open source! All code in this repository is dual-licensed under either:
- MIT License (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
- Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
at your option. This means you can select the license you prefer! This dual-licensing approach is the de-facto standard in the Rust ecosystem and there are very good reasons to include both.
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.