at compile time.
~~~~ {.ebnf .gram}
-literal : string_lit | char_lit | num_lit ;
+literal : string_lit | char_lit | byte_string_lit | byte_lit | num_lit ;
~~~~
#### Character and string literals
string_lit : '"' string_body * '"' | 'r' raw_string ;
char_body : non_single_quote
- | '\x5c' [ '\x27' | common_escape ] ;
+ | '\x5c' [ '\x27' | common_escape | unicode_escape ] ;
string_body : non_double_quote
- | '\x5c' [ '\x22' | common_escape ] ;
+ | '\x5c' [ '\x22' | common_escape | unicode_escape ] ;
raw_string : '"' raw_string_body '"' | '#' raw_string '#' ;
common_escape : '\x5c'
| 'n' | 'r' | 't' | '0'
| 'x' hex_digit 2
- | 'u' hex_digit 4
- | 'U' hex_digit 8 ;
+unicode_escape : 'u' hex_digit 4
+ | 'U' hex_digit 8 ;
hex_digit : 'a' | 'b' | 'c' | 'd' | 'e' | 'f'
| 'A' | 'B' | 'C' | 'D' | 'E' | 'F'
escaped in order to denote *itself*.
Raw string literals do not process any escapes. They start with the character
-`U+0072` (`r`), followed zero or more of the character `U+0023` (`#`) and a
+`U+0072` (`r`), followed by zero or more of the character `U+0023` (`#`) and a
`U+0022` (double-quote) character. The _raw string body_ is not defined in the
EBNF grammar above: it can contain any sequence of Unicode characters and is
terminated only by another `U+0022` (double-quote) character, followed by the
"\\x52"; r"\x52"; // \x52
~~~~
+#### Byte and byte string literals
+
+~~~~ {.ebnf .gram}
+byte_lit : 'b' '\x27' byte_body '\x27' ;
+byte_string_lit : 'b' '"' string_body * '"' | 'b' 'r' raw_byte_string ;
+
+byte_body : ascii_non_single_quote
+ | '\x5c' [ '\x27' | common_escape ] ;
+
+byte_string_body : ascii_non_double_quote
+ | '\x5c' [ '\x22' | common_escape ] ;
+raw_byte_string : '"' raw_byte_string_body '"' | '#' raw_byte_string '#' ;
+
+~~~~
+
+A _byte literal_ is a single ASCII character (in the `U+0000` to `U+007F` range)
+enclosed within two `U+0027` (single-quote) characters,
+with the exception of `U+0027` itself,
+which must be _escaped_ by a preceding U+005C character (`\`),
+or a single _escape_.
+It is equivalent to a `u8` unsigned 8-bit integer _number literal_.
+
+A _byte string literal_ is a sequence of ASCII characters and _escapes_
+enclosed within two `U+0022` (double-quote) characters,
+with the exception of `U+0022` itself,
+which must be _escaped_ by a preceding `U+005C` character (`\`),
+or a _raw byte string literal_.
+It is equivalent to a `&'static [u8]` borrowed vectior unsigned 8-bit integers.
+
+Some additional _escapes_ are available in either byte or non-raw byte string
+literals. An escape starts with a `U+005C` (`\`) and continues with one of
+the following forms:
+
+ * An _byte escape_ escape starts with `U+0078` (`x`) and is
+ followed by exactly two _hex digits_. It denotes the byte
+ equal to the provided hex value.
+ * A _whitespace escape_ is one of the characters `U+006E` (`n`), `U+0072`
+ (`r`), or `U+0074` (`t`), denoting the bytes values `0x0A` (ASCII LF),
+ `0x0D` (ASCII CR) or `0x09` (ASCII HT) respectively.
+ * The _backslash escape_ is the character `U+005C` (`\`) which must be
+ escaped in order to denote its ASCII encoding `0x5C`.
+
+Raw byte string literals do not process any escapes.
+They start with the character `U+0072` (`r`),
+followed by `U+0062` (`b`),
+followed by zero or more of the character `U+0023` (`#`),
+and a `U+0022` (double-quote) character.
+The _raw string body_ is not defined in the EBNF grammar above:
+it can contain any sequence of ASCII characters and is
+terminated only by another `U+0022` (double-quote) character, followed by the
+same number of `U+0023` (`#`) characters that preceded the opening `U+0022`
+(double-quote) character.
+A raw byte string literal can not contain any non-ASCII byte.
+
+All characters contained in the raw string body represent their ASCII encoding,
+the characters `U+0022` (double-quote) (except when followed by at least as
+many `U+0023` (`#`) characters as were used to start the raw string literal) or
+`U+005C` (`\`) do not have any special meaning.
+
#### Number literals
~~~~ {.ebnf .gram}