JSON parser with borrowed values

The previous parser owned its data by allocating strings. This can require quite some memory space, and using borrowed string slices can help use saving space, while also maybe increasing performances.

If you are familiar with Rust's concept of litefime, using &str string slices instead of owned String is straightforward:

@ 33c29
- enum Token {
+ enum Token<'source> {
@ 62,63c58,59
-     #[regex(r#""([^"\\]|\\["\\bnfrt]|u[a-fA-F0-9]{4})*""#, |lex| lex.slice().to_owned())]
-     String(String),
+     #[regex(r#""([^"\\]|\\["\\bnfrt]|u[a-fA-F0-9]{4})*""#, |lex| lex.slice())]
+     String(&'source str),
@ 70c66
- enum Value {
- enum Value<'source> {
@ 78c74
-     String(String),
+     String(&'source str),
@ 80c76
-     Array(Vec<Value>),
+     Array(Vec<Value<'source>>),
@ 82c78
-     Object(HashMap<String, Value>),
+     Object(HashMap<&'source str, Value<'source>>),
@ 88c84
- fn parse_value<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token>) -> Result<Value> {
+ fn parse_value<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token<'source>>) -> Result<Value<'source>> {
@ 113c109
- fn parse_array<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token>) -> Result<Value> {
+ fn parse_array<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token<'source>>) -> Result<Value<'source>> {
@ 167c163
- fn parse_object<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token>) -> Result<Value> {
+ fn parse_object<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token<'source>>) -> Result<Value<'source>> {

The above code shows the lines you need to change from the previous example to use borrowed data.

Finally, we provide you the full code that you should be able to run with1:

cargo run --example json-borrowed examples/example.json

1 You first need to clone this repository.

use logos::{Lexer, Logos, Span};

use std::collections::HashMap;
use std::env;
use std::fs;

type Error = (String, Span);

type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, Error>;

/// All meaningful JSON tokens.
///
/// > NOTE: regexes for [`Token::Number`] and [`Token::String`] may not
/// > catch all possible values, especially for strings. If you find
/// > errors, please report them so that we can improve the regex.
#[derive(Debug, Logos)]
#[logos(skip r"[ \t\r\n\f]+")]
enum Token<'source> {
    #[token("false", |_| false)]
    #[token("true", |_| true)]
    Bool(bool),

    #[token("{")]
    BraceOpen,

    #[token("}")]
    BraceClose,

    #[token("[")]
    BracketOpen,

    #[token("]")]
    BracketClose,

    #[token(":")]
    Colon,

    #[token(",")]
    Comma,

    #[token("null")]
    Null,

    #[regex(r"-?(?:0|[1-9]\d*)(?:\.\d+)?(?:[eE][+-]?\d+)?", |lex| lex.slice().parse::<f64>().unwrap())]
    Number(f64),

    #[regex(r#""([^"\\]|\\["\\bnfrt]|u[a-fA-F0-9]{4})*""#, |lex| lex.slice())]
    String(&'source str),
}

/// Represent any valid JSON value.
#[derive(Debug)]
enum Value<'source> {
    /// null.
    Null,
    /// true or false.
    Bool(bool),
    /// Any floating point number.
    Number(f64),
    /// Any quoted string.
    String(&'source str),
    /// An array of values
    Array(Vec<Value<'source>>),
    /// An dictionary mapping keys and values.
    Object(HashMap<&'source str, Value<'source>>),
}

/// Parse a token stream into a JSON value.
fn parse_value<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token<'source>>) -> Result<Value<'source>> {
    if let Some(token) = lexer.next() {
        match token {
            Ok(Token::Bool(b)) => Ok(Value::Bool(b)),
            Ok(Token::BraceOpen) => parse_object(lexer),
            Ok(Token::BracketOpen) => parse_array(lexer),
            Ok(Token::Null) => Ok(Value::Null),
            Ok(Token::Number(n)) => Ok(Value::Number(n)),
            Ok(Token::String(s)) => Ok(Value::String(s)),
            _ => Err((
                "unexpected token here (context: value)".to_owned(),
                lexer.span(),
            )),
        }
    } else {
        Err(("empty values are not allowed".to_owned(), lexer.span()))
    }
}

/// Parse a token stream into an array and return when
/// a valid terminator is found.
///
/// > NOTE: we assume '[' was consumed.
fn parse_array<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token<'source>>) -> Result<Value<'source>> {
    let mut array = Vec::new();
    let span = lexer.span();
    let mut awaits_comma = false;
    let mut awaits_value = false;

    while let Some(token) = lexer.next() {
        match token {
            Ok(Token::Bool(b)) if !awaits_comma => {
                array.push(Value::Bool(b));
                awaits_value = false;
            }
            Ok(Token::BraceOpen) if !awaits_comma => {
                let object = parse_object(lexer)?;
                array.push(object);
                awaits_value = false;
            }
            Ok(Token::BracketOpen) if !awaits_comma => {
                let sub_array = parse_array(lexer)?;
                array.push(sub_array);
                awaits_value = false;
            }
            Ok(Token::BracketClose) if !awaits_value => return Ok(Value::Array(array)),
            Ok(Token::Comma) if awaits_comma => awaits_value = true,
            Ok(Token::Null) if !awaits_comma => {
                array.push(Value::Null);
                awaits_value = false
            }
            Ok(Token::Number(n)) if !awaits_comma => {
                array.push(Value::Number(n));
                awaits_value = false;
            }
            Ok(Token::String(s)) if !awaits_comma => {
                array.push(Value::String(s));
                awaits_value = false;
            }
            _ => {
                return Err((
                    "unexpected token here (context: array)".to_owned(),
                    lexer.span(),
                ))
            }
        }
        awaits_comma = !awaits_value;
    }
    Err(("unmatched opening bracket defined here".to_owned(), span))
}

/// Parse a token stream into an object and return when
/// a valid terminator is found.
///
/// > NOTE: we assume '{' was consumed.
fn parse_object<'source>(lexer: &mut Lexer<'source, Token<'source>>) -> Result<Value<'source>> {
    let mut map = HashMap::new();
    let span = lexer.span();
    let mut awaits_comma = false;
    let mut awaits_key = false;

    while let Some(token) = lexer.next() {
        match token {
            Ok(Token::BraceClose) if !awaits_key => return Ok(Value::Object(map)),
            Ok(Token::Comma) if awaits_comma => awaits_key = true,
            Ok(Token::String(key)) if !awaits_comma => {
                match lexer.next() {
                    Some(Ok(Token::Colon)) => (),
                    _ => {
                        return Err((
                            "unexpected token here, expecting ':'".to_owned(),
                            lexer.span(),
                        ))
                    }
                }
                let value = parse_value(lexer)?;
                map.insert(key, value);
                awaits_key = false;
            }
            _ => {
                return Err((
                    "unexpected token here (context: object)".to_owned(),
                    lexer.span(),
                ))
            }
        }
        awaits_comma = !awaits_key;
    }
    Err(("unmatched opening brace defined here".to_owned(), span))
}

fn main() {
    let filename = env::args().nth(1).expect("Expected file argument");
    let src = fs::read_to_string(&filename).expect("Failed to read file");

    let mut lexer = Token::lexer(src.as_str());

    match parse_value(&mut lexer) {
        Ok(value) => println!("{:#?}", value),
        Err((msg, span)) => {
            use ariadne::{ColorGenerator, Label, Report, ReportKind, Source};

            let mut colors = ColorGenerator::new();

            let a = colors.next();

            Report::build(ReportKind::Error, &filename, 12)
                .with_message("Invalid JSON".to_string())
                .with_label(
                    Label::new((&filename, span))
                        .with_message(msg)
                        .with_color(a),
                )
                .finish()
                .eprint((&filename, Source::from(src)))
                .unwrap();
        }
    }
}