that have a *dynamic interpretation* govern the behavior of the program at
run-time.
-[^phase-distinction]: This distinction would also exist in an interpreter.
- Static checks like syntactic analysis, type checking, and lints should
- happen before the program is executed regardless of when it is executed.
-
The compilation model centers on artifacts called _crates_. Each compilation
processes a single crate in source form, and if successful, produces a single
crate in binary form: either an executable or some sort of
library.[^cratesourcefile]
-[^cratesourcefile]: A crate is somewhat analogous to an *assembly* in the
- ECMA-335 CLI model, a *library* in the SML/NJ Compilation Manager, a *unit*
- in the Owens and Flatt module system, or a *configuration* in Mesa.
-
A _crate_ is a unit of compilation and linking, as well as versioning,
distribution and runtime loading. A crate contains a _tree_ of nested
-[module](#modules) scopes. The top level of this tree is a module that is
+[module] scopes. The top level of this tree is a module that is
anonymous (from the point of view of paths within the module) and any item
-within a crate has a canonical [module path](#paths) denoting its location
+within a crate has a canonical [module path] denoting its location
within the crate's module tree.
The Rust compiler is always invoked with a single source file as input, and
in the module tree of the current crate — are defined from outside the
source file: either by an explicit `mod_item` in a referencing source file, or
by the name of the crate itself. Every source file is a module, but not every
-module needs its own source file: [module definitions](#modules) can be nested
+module needs its own source file: [module definitions][module] can be nested
within one file.
Each source file contains a sequence of zero or more `item` definitions, and
-may optionally begin with any number of [attributes](#items-and-attributes)
+may optionally begin with any number of [attributes]
that apply to the containing module, most of which influence the behavior of
the compiler. The anonymous crate module can have additional attributes that
apply to the crate as a whole.
-```no_run
+```rust,no_run
// Specify the crate name.
#![crate_name = "projx"]
A crate that contains a `main` function can be compiled to an executable. If a
`main` function is present, its return type must be `()`
-("[unit](#tuple-types)") and it must take no arguments.
+("[unit]") and it must take no arguments.
+
+[^phase-distinction]: This distinction would also exist in an interpreter.
+ Static checks like syntactic analysis, type checking, and lints should
+ happen before the program is executed regardless of when it is executed.
+
+[^cratesourcefile]: A crate is somewhat analogous to an *assembly* in the
+ ECMA-335 CLI model, a *library* in the SML/NJ Compilation Manager, a *unit*
+ in the Owens and Flatt module system, or a *configuration* in Mesa.
+
+[module]: items.html#modules
+[module path]: paths.html
+[attributes]: items-and-attributes.html
+[unit]: types.html#tuple-types
\ No newline at end of file