{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreigswjuxe6wy2zrlxrytsoh72vtlondu4l7fxp4oqits5h66it3o4e",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:ivbknywyskln22er3nkssdhl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkuv73okw6a2"
  },
  "path": "/t/every-system-that-serves-human-intent-must-be-able-to-identify-which-one-and-recognize-the-same-one/24215#post_1",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-02T14:47:29.000Z",
  "site": "https://internals.rust-lang.org",
  "tags": [
    "context-engine/src/list.rs at main · animagram-jp/context-engine · GitHub"
  ],
  "textContent": "Title: Pre-RFC: **`List` and `VariableList`: identity-based storage primitives with interning**\n\nEvery system that accepts input from humans operates on two concepts that are currently absent from `core`:\n\n  1. A way to store and retrieve values by a stable integer identity (1-based ordinal, where 0 is the null sentinel — the only meaningful null for a computer)\n  2. A way to recognize that two inputs are the same value — interning\n\n\n\n`slice` and `Vec` are memory representations. They have no notion of identity or equality across contexts. You cannot intern a `Vec`. This is a gap, not a stylistic choice.\n\nI have been using two primitives to fill this gap:\n\n**`List<T>`** — fixed-width unit store, addressed by `usize` identity **`VariableList<T>`** — variable-width unit store, same identity model, with interning support\n\nBoth are small enough to copy into a project without installing a crate.\n\nSource: context-engine/src/list.rs at main · animagram-jp/context-engine · GitHub\n\nThese two concepts — ordinal identity and value interning — are not primitives in the sense of bits or ordering. But they are unavoidable the moment a computer does anything for a human. Every system that serves human intent must identify \"which one\" and recognize \"the same one.\" That is not a library concern. It belongs in `core`.\n\nI am not proposing specific API surface yet. I want to know: is this a gap others have felt? And is interning as a general primitive — not just for strings — something worth pursuing in `core`?\n\n* * *\n\nEnglish is not my first language — please forgive any awkward phrasing.\n\nThank you for reading.",
  "title": "Every system that serves human intent must be able to identify \"which one\" and recognize \"the same one.\""
}