r[ident]

Identifiers

r[ident.syntax]

IDENTIFIER_OR_KEYWORD -> ( XID_Start | `_` ) XID_Continue*

XID_Start -> <`XID_Start` defined by Unicode>

XID_Continue -> <`XID_Continue` defined by Unicode>

RAW_IDENTIFIER -> `r#` IDENTIFIER_OR_KEYWORD

NON_KEYWORD_IDENTIFIER -> IDENTIFIER_OR_KEYWORD _except a [strict][lex.keywords.strict] or [reserved][lex.keywords.reserved] keyword_

IDENTIFIER -> NON_KEYWORD_IDENTIFIER | RAW_IDENTIFIER

RESERVED_RAW_IDENTIFIER ->
    `r#` (`_` | `crate` | `self` | `Self` | `super`) _not immediately followed by XID_Continue_

r[ident.unicode] Identifiers follow the specification in Unicode Standard Annex #31 for Unicode version 17.0, with the additions described below. Some examples of identifiers:

• foo
• _identifier
• r#true
• Москва
• 東京

r[ident.profile] The profile used from UAX #31 is:

• Start := XID_Start, plus the underscore character (U+005F)
• Continue := XID_Continue
• Medial := empty

[!NOTE] Identifiers starting with an underscore are typically used to indicate an identifier that is intentionally unused, and will silence the unused warning in rustc.

r[ident.keyword] Identifiers may not be a strict or reserved keyword without the r# prefix described below in raw identifiers.

r[ident.zero-width-chars] Zero width non-joiner (ZWNJ U+200C) and zero width joiner (ZWJ U+200D) characters are not allowed in identifiers.

r[ident.ascii-limitations] Identifiers are restricted to the ASCII subset of XID_Start and XID_Continue in the following situations:

• extern crate declarations (except the [AsClause] identifier)
• External crate names referenced in a path
• Module names loaded from the filesystem without a path attribute
• no_mangle attributed items
• Item names in external blocks

r[ident.normalization]

Normalization

Identifiers are normalized using Normalization Form C (NFC) as defined in Unicode Standard Annex #15. Two identifiers are equal if their NFC forms are equal.

Procedural and declarative macros receive normalized identifiers in their input.

r[ident.raw]

Raw identifiers

r[ident.raw.intro] A raw identifier is like a normal identifier, but prefixed by r#. (Note that the r# prefix is not included as part of the actual identifier.)

r[ident.raw.allowed] Unlike a normal identifier, a raw identifier may be any strict or reserved keyword except the ones listed above for RAW_IDENTIFIER.

r[ident.raw.reserved] It is an error to use the [RESERVED_RAW_IDENTIFIER] token.