Convert recordOps to builtin functions

[charlesstaats]

The addRecordOps behavior was always unfortunate. This CL converts alias, operator== (comparing records), and operator!= (comparing record) to builtin functions with open signatures, rather than adding new overloads every time a record is defined.

Some behavior notes:

• The compilation time for the plain module does not increase, and may even decrease although it was within the noise. (I added a benchmark to check this.)
• The alias function is defined for all nullable types, including records (structs), arrays, and functions. However, it can only be called if both sides have the same type (no casting), or if exactly one of the two operands is a null literal.
• The operator== and operator!= functions are defined when both arguments have the same struct type (no casting), or when one argument is a struct and the other is a null literal. The operator== function in this context gives the same results as alias, while operator!= is, of course, its negation.
• All three operators can be overridden; however, the override will be limited to its scope (which can be enlarged using autounravel), while the default operators are available in any scope.
• If T is a struct, then the code bool f(T, T) = operator== will work as expected. If f and g are both constructed this way, then alias(f, g) will be true. Unlike the default operator==, the new function f performs typecasting on its arguments. The same holds for operator!=.
• The alias function cannot be cast in the same way, since I did not see a good use case for it and making it work is mildly invasive.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR refactors record-related identity/equality operations by replacing the legacy “add overloads per-record” approach (addRecordOps) with global open-signature builtins (alias, operator==, operator!=) and custom call-site handlers that enforce the intended record/null/type constraints. It also updates documentation and adds tests/errortests plus a small startup benchmark.

Changes:

• Introduces custom handler dispatch for open-signature builtins (translation + type inference), plus specialization support when reading certain open-signature builtins as concrete function values.
• Replaces per-record operator injection (addRecordOps) with global ==/!= open-signature builtins and a global open-signature alias.
• Adds/updates tests, errortests, and docs; adds a simple startup benchmark script.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 27 out of 28 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
testsExtra/bench/startup.asy	Adds a minimal benchmark file used to measure interpreter startup/exit overhead.
testsExtra/bench/bench-startup.sh	Adds a script to run the startup benchmark repeatedly and report timing.
tests/types/recordOpEqAsValue.asy	New test verifying record ==/!= can be coerced to function values and behaves as identity equality.
tests/types/overrideEquals.asy	Updates override scoping test to account for global open-signature operator== and specialization behavior.
tests/types/builtinOps.asy	Removes now-unneeded unravel operator== for nested record equality.
tests/types/aliasBuiltin.asy	New tests for builtin alias across records/arrays/functions, override precedence, and scoping.
tests/datastructures/naivesortedTest.asy	Adjusts equality/alias assertions to reflect new builtin operator behavior.
tests/datastructures/hashsetTest.asy	Adjusts equality/alias assertions and fixes an EndTest() line alignment.
settings.cc	Minor comment punctuation change while parsing options.
runmath.in	Adds single-argument null-comparison helpers for record pointers and callable values.
runarray.in	Adds single-argument null-comparison helper for arrays.
Makefile.in	Adds builtin_handlers to the core compilation units.
exp.h	Adds specialization hook (trySpecializeToType) and declares custom handler registration/lookup + record ==/!= specialization functions.
exp.cc	Implements specialization fallback for casts, adds custom-handler dispatch in callExp::trans/getType, and adds open-signature detection.
errortests/autounravel.errors	Updates expected error location/message due to operator-based autounravel shadowing test changes.
errortests/autounravel.asy	Switches the autounravel shadowing case from alias to operator ==.
errortests/alias.errors	New expected error outputs for alias call-time constraints.
errortests/alias.asy	New error tests covering alias constraints (null-literal ambiguity, same-type requirement, nullable-only).
env.h	Removes addRecordOps declaration from protoenv.
env.cc	Removes protoenv::addRecordOps implementation.
doc/asymptote.texi	Updates docs for alias semantics and clarifies default struct == discussion; removes alias from “defined after first array” list.
dec.cc	Stops calling trans::addRecordOps during record field translation.
cmake-scripts/asy-files.cmake	Adds builtin_handlers to the core build file list for CMake builds.
builtin.h	Adds addOpenBuiltinFunc API (and includes exp.h for handler types).
builtin.cc	Registers global open-signature alias and global open-signature record ==/!= with custom handlers; updates array-op initialization guard.
builtin_handlers.cc	New: implements the symbol→handlers side table and custom translation/type-inference for alias and record ==/!=, plus specialization helpers.
application.cc	Adjusts tooManyArgs heuristic to avoid incorrectly rejecting open-signature candidates.
.gitignore	Adds ignores for Python tooling, shared libs, LspCpp in-source artifacts, Copilot workspace dir, and tmp/; minor formatting fix.

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 30 out of 31 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 30 out of 31 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.