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Gino Valente d30d3e752a bevy_reflect: Improve serialization format even more (#5723)
> Note: This is rebased off #4561 and can be viewed as a competitor to that PR. See `Comparison with #4561` section for details.

# Objective

The current serialization format used by `bevy_reflect` is both verbose and error-prone. Taking the following structs[^1] for example:

```rust
// -- src/inventory.rs

#[derive(Reflect)]
struct Inventory {
  id: String,
  max_storage: usize,
  items: Vec<Item>
}

#[derive(Reflect)]
struct Item {
  name: String
}
```

Given an inventory of a single item, this would serialize to something like:

```rust
// -- assets/inventory.ron

{
  "type": "my_game::inventory::Inventory",
  "struct": {
    "id": {
      "type": "alloc::string::String",
      "value": "inv001",
    },
    "max_storage": {
      "type": "usize",
      "value": 10
    },
    "items": {
      "type": "alloc::vec::Vec<alloc::string::String>",
      "list": [
        {
          "type": "my_game::inventory::Item",
          "struct": {
            "name": {
              "type": "alloc::string::String",
              "value": "Pickaxe"
            },
          },
        },
      ],
    },
  },
}
```

Aside from being really long and difficult to read, it also has a few "gotchas" that users need to be aware of if they want to edit the file manually. A major one is the requirement that you use the proper keys for a given type. For structs, you need `"struct"`. For lists, `"list"`. For tuple structs, `"tuple_struct"`. And so on.

It also ***requires*** that the `"type"` entry come before the actual data. Despite being a map— which in programming is almost always orderless by default— the entries need to be in a particular order. Failure to follow the ordering convention results in a failure to deserialize the data.

This makes it very prone to errors and annoyances.


## Solution

Using #4042, we can remove a lot of the boilerplate and metadata needed by this older system. Since we now have static access to type information, we can simplify our serialized data to look like:

```rust
// -- assets/inventory.ron

{
  "my_game::inventory::Inventory": (
    id: "inv001",
    max_storage: 10,
    items: [
      (
        name: "Pickaxe"
      ),
    ],
  ),
}
```

This is much more digestible and a lot less error-prone (no more key requirements and no more extra type names).

Additionally, it is a lot more familiar to users as it follows conventional serde mechanics. For example, the struct is represented with `(...)` when serialized to RON.

#### Custom Serialization

Additionally, this PR adds the opt-in ability to specify a custom serde implementation to be used rather than the one created via reflection. For example[^1]:

```rust
// -- src/inventory.rs

#[derive(Reflect, Serialize)]
#[reflect(Serialize)]
struct Item {
  #[serde(alias = "id")]
  name: String
}
```

```rust
// -- assets/inventory.ron

{
  "my_game::inventory::Inventory": (
    id: "inv001",
    max_storage: 10,
    items: [
      (
        id: "Pickaxe"
      ),
    ],
  ),
},
```

By allowing users to define their own serialization methods, we do two things:

1. We give more control over how data is serialized/deserialized to the end user
2. We avoid having to re-define serde's attributes and forcing users to apply both (e.g. we don't need a `#[reflect(alias)]` attribute).

### Improved Formats

One of the improvements this PR provides is the ability to represent data in ways that are more conventional and/or familiar to users. Many users are familiar with RON so here are some of the ways we can now represent data in RON:

###### Structs

```js
{
  "my_crate::Foo": (
    bar: 123
  )
}
// OR
{
  "my_crate::Foo": Foo(
    bar: 123
  )
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "my_crate::Foo",
  "struct": {
    "bar": {
      "type": "usize",
      "value": 123
    }
  }
}
```

</details>

###### Tuples

```js
{
  "(f32, f32)": (1.0, 2.0)
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "(f32, f32)",
  "tuple": [
    {
      "type": "f32",
      "value": 1.0
    },
    {
      "type": "f32",
      "value": 2.0
    }
  ]
}
```

</details>

###### Tuple Structs

```js
{
  "my_crate::Bar": ("Hello World!")
}
// OR
{
  "my_crate::Bar": Bar("Hello World!")
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "my_crate::Bar",
  "tuple_struct": [
    {
      "type": "alloc::string::String",
      "value": "Hello World!"
    }
  ]
}
```

</details>

###### Arrays

It may be a bit surprising to some, but arrays now also use the tuple format. This is because they essentially _are_ tuples (a sequence of values with a fixed size), but only allow for homogenous types. Additionally, this is how RON handles them and is probably a result of the 32-capacity limit imposed on them (both by [serde](https://docs.rs/serde/latest/serde/trait.Serialize.html#impl-Serialize-for-%5BT%3B%2032%5D) and by [bevy_reflect](https://docs.rs/bevy/latest/bevy/reflect/trait.GetTypeRegistration.html#impl-GetTypeRegistration-for-%5BT%3B%2032%5D)).

```js
{
  "[i32; 3]": (1, 2, 3)
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "[i32; 3]",
  "array": [
    {
      "type": "i32",
      "value": 1
    },
    {
      "type": "i32",
      "value": 2
    },
    {
      "type": "i32",
      "value": 3
    }
  ]
}
```

</details>

###### Enums

To make things simple, I'll just put a struct variant here, but the style applies to all variant types:

```js
{
  "my_crate::ItemType": Consumable(
    name: "Healing potion"
  )
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "my_crate::ItemType",
  "enum": {
    "variant": "Consumable",
    "struct": {
      "name": {
        "type": "alloc::string::String",
        "value": "Healing potion"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

</details>

### Comparison with #4561

This PR is a rebased version of #4561. The reason for the split between the two is because this PR creates a _very_ different scene format. You may notice that the PR descriptions for either PR are pretty similar. This was done to better convey the changes depending on which (if any) gets merged first. If #4561 makes it in first, I will update this PR description accordingly.

---

## Changelog

* Re-worked serialization/deserialization for reflected types
* Added `TypedReflectDeserializer` for deserializing data with known `TypeInfo`
* Renamed `ReflectDeserializer` to `UntypedReflectDeserializer` 
* ~~Replaced usages of `deserialize_any` with `deserialize_map` for non-self-describing formats~~ Reverted this change since there are still some issues that need to be sorted out (in a separate PR). By reverting this, crates like `bincode` can throw an error when attempting to deserialize non-self-describing formats (`bincode` results in `DeserializeAnyNotSupported`)
* Structs, tuples, tuple structs, arrays, and enums are now all de/serialized using conventional serde methods

## Migration Guide

* This PR reduces the verbosity of the scene format. Scenes will need to be updated accordingly:

```js
// Old format
{
  "type": "my_game::item::Item",
  "struct": {
    "id": {
      "type": "alloc::string::String",
      "value": "bevycraft:stone",
    },
    "tags": {
      "type": "alloc::vec::Vec<alloc::string::String>",
      "list": [
        {
          "type": "alloc::string::String",
          "value": "material"
        },
      ],
    },
}

// New format
{
  "my_game::item::Item": (
    id: "bevycraft:stone",
    tags: ["material"]
  )
}
```

[^1]: Some derives omitted for brevity.
2022-09-20 19:38:18 +00:00
.cargo Change path to zld on MacOS fast build example (#4778) 2022-05-17 16:00:17 +00:00
.github Use latest stable version for CI 'build' job (#5672) 2022-08-13 15:44:35 +00:00
assets bevy_reflect: Improve serialization format even more (#5723) 2022-09-20 19:38:18 +00:00
benches Remove last uses of string-labels (#5420) 2022-09-03 18:06:41 +00:00
crates bevy_reflect: Improve serialization format even more (#5723) 2022-09-20 19:38:18 +00:00
docs Add troubleshooting for pkgconfig errors on fedora (#5821) 2022-08-29 23:16:43 +00:00
errors Add warning when a hierarchy component is missing (#5590) 2022-09-19 16:12:11 +00:00
examples bevy_reflect: Improve serialization format even more (#5723) 2022-09-20 19:38:18 +00:00
src Add missing closing ticks for inline examples and some cleanup (#3573) 2022-01-07 09:25:12 +00:00
tests Make Resource trait opt-in, requiring #[derive(Resource)] V2 (#5577) 2022-08-08 21:36:35 +00:00
tools Warn when passing invalid argument to CI (#5858) 2022-09-02 12:18:45 +00:00
.gitattributes Enforce linux-style line endings for .rs and .toml (#3197) 2021-11-26 21:05:35 +00:00
.gitignore Add writing of scene data to Scene example (#5949) 2022-09-11 20:18:57 +00:00
Cargo.toml Update to ron 0.8 (#5864) 2022-09-02 14:20:49 +00:00
CHANGELOG.md Update changelog for 0.8.0 (#5494) 2022-07-30 15:03:21 +00:00
clippy.toml Enable the doc_markdown clippy lint (#3457) 2022-01-09 23:20:13 +00:00
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md Update CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md 2020-08-19 20:25:58 +01:00
CONTRIBUTING.md Fix typo in link to dev-docs (#5999) 2022-09-17 07:21:53 +00:00
CREDITS.md Add the license for the FiraMono font (#3589) 2022-05-06 19:29:43 +00:00
deny.toml Update rodio requirement from 0.15 to 0.16 (#6020) 2022-09-19 13:56:56 +00:00
LICENSE-APACHE Let the project page support GitHub's new ability to display open source licenses (#4966) 2022-06-08 17:55:57 +00:00
LICENSE-MIT Let the project page support GitHub's new ability to display open source licenses (#4966) 2022-06-08 17:55:57 +00:00
README.md Update license link in README.md (#5614) 2022-08-08 19:39:07 +00:00
rustfmt.toml Cargo fmt with unstable features (#1903) 2021-04-21 23:19:34 +00:00

Bevy

Crates.io MIT/Apache 2.0 Crates.io Rust iOS cron CI Discord

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

To draw a window with standard functionality enabled, use:

use bevy::prelude::*;

fn main(){
  App::new()
    .add_plugins(DefaultPlugins)
    .run();
}

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

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, open source and permissively licensed! Except where noted (below and/or in individual files), all code in this repository is dual-licensed under either:

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.

Some of the engine's code carries additional copyright notices and license terms due to their external origins. These are generally BSD-like, but exact details vary by crate: If the README of a crate contains a 'License' header (or similar), the additional copyright notices and license terms applicable to that crate will be listed. The above licensing requirement still applies to contributions to those crates, and sections of those crates will carry those license terms. The license field of each crate will also reflect this. For example, bevy_mikktspace has code under the Zlib license (as well as a copyright notice when choosing the MIT license).

The assets included in this repository (for our examples) typically fall under different open licenses. These will not be included in your game (unless copied in by you), and they are not distributed in the published bevy crates. See CREDITS.md for the details of the licenses of those files.

Your contributions

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.