# Compiler team proactive agenda

**URL:** <https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/compiler-team-proactive-agenda/5230>\
**Category:** compiler\
**Created:** [May 11, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/compiler-team-proactive-agenda/5230 "2017-05-11T21:06:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nikomatsakis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/internals.rust-lang.org/nikomatsakis/32/5410_2.png) [@nikomatsakis](https://internals.rust-lang.org/u/nikomatsakis)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/compiler-team-proactive-agenda/5230/3 "2017-06-01T14:50:09Z")

</div>

OK so we didn’t really set any agenda for this week! I propose that it’d be great to talk about **mentorship and accessibility** of the compiler source. I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I think there are a lot of “small hurdles” that contributors find when they come to rustc, and I’d like to discuss what we can do to solve those.

Some links and thoughts:

- [issue 40902: more forge docs for mentoring](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/40902)
- rustdocs for the compiler crates are not available
- most of our types don’t have documentation
  - proposal: sort by which are used most frequently, open up a “checklist issue” with the goal of documenting _all_ structs, starting with those used most frequently

- no design documentations clarifying the overall way that the compiler works
  - what is AST? what is HIR? what is `ty::Ty<'tcx>`? how do these things relate?
  - what are the `'tcx` and `'gcx` lifetimes?
    - (I think we should consider changing those names, too.)

Basically I’d like to decide on what are most urgent problems and try to draw up a plan to address.

---

_[View the full topic](https://internals.rust-lang.org/t/compiler-team-proactive-agenda/5230)._