feat(lang): a name is defined once, a local once per block, and a result is always returned

L1. Two vars, consts, enums, properties or events of one name in a program are an error naming
both places (functions already were); the first used to win silently. A let / var of a name its
own block already declared is an error (it used to shadow). A function with a result type whose
body can reach its end without a return is an error, asked structurally of the body - a return,
an if/else or a match with a default arm whose every branch ends - rather than handing back
whatever the result slot held. The game, the lab and every package example pass all three;
the lab had one harmless shadow, and the game's split screens had two real bugs of the kind.
examples/rejected/ holds the four refusals, checked by the test runner's new reject_case.
Seed regenerated.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

LANGUAGE.md

@@ -62,6 +62,14 @@ parse:
 chronorift/world.ludic:1: error: expected expression
 ```
 
+All of a program's files share one namespace, so **a name is defined once**: two functions, two
+`var`s or `const`s (or an `enum` and a `const`), or two `property` / `event` records with one name
+are an error that names both places. Declarations the runtime splices in are its own and are not
+checked against each other.
+The same holds inside a function: a `let` or `var` declares its name once per block (another
+block, a loop variable or a parameter may reuse it), and a function with a result type must
+`return` one on every path - running off the end of its body is an error, not a zero.
+
 ## Models (entity kinds)
 
 An `model` names a *kind* of entity and the fixed set of properties it

changes/duplicate-definitions.md

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+bump: minor
+type: feat
+**A name is defined once, for every kind of declaration.** Two functions with one name were
+already an error; two `var`s or `const`s (or an enum and a const), or two `property` / `event`
+records, kept the first definition silently. A game lost months to it: two files both said
+`KEY_LEFT`, one meaning an arrow key's code and one a binding slot, and the menus read the slot.
+They are now an error that names both files and lines. `examples/rejected/` holds the two cases,
+checked by a new `reject_case` in the test runner (an example the compiler must refuse).

changes/redeclared-local-missing-return.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+bump: minor
+type: feat
+**A local is declared once per block, and a function returns what it says it returns.** A second
+`let` or `var` of a name in the same block used to shadow the first silently - a settings page
+compared a vegetation setting against the volumetric one because of it - and is now an error.
+Names declared in different blocks, loop variables and parameters are unaffected. And a function
+with a result type that can reach the end of its body without a `return` is an error: it used
+to hand back whatever its result slot held, which is how a self-test split into helpers
+reported FAILED for a step that had passed. `examples/rejected/` holds both.

examples/rejected/duplicate_const.ludic

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# duplicate_const.ludic - two files that both define KEY_LEFT. The compiler refuses it and names
+# both places; it used to keep the first silently, and a game read an arrow key as a binding
+# slot's number for months. (Rejected on purpose: tools/ludic-cli/test.ludic, reject_case.)
+program DuplicateConst {
+  const KEY_LEFT: int = 130
+  const KEY_LEFT: int = 2
+  entry { print(KEY_LEFT) }
+}

examples/rejected/duplicate_property.ludic

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# duplicate_property.ludic - one record name defined twice; refused like a duplicate function
+program DuplicateProperty {
+  property Look { hair: int = 0 }
+  property Look { top: int = 0 }
+  entry { print(1) }
+}

examples/rejected/missing_return.ludic

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# missing_return.ludic - a function with a result that can run off its end. It used to return
+# whatever the slot held; a split self-test lost its last `return ok` and reported FAILED.
+program MissingReturn {
+  function checked(n: int) -> bool {
+    if n > 0 { return true }
+  }
+  entry { print(checked(1)) }
+}

examples/rejected/redeclared_local.ludic

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# redeclared_local.ludic - one block declaring a name twice. The second used to shadow the first
+# silently: a settings page compared its vegetation setting against the volumetric one for it.
+program RedeclaredLocal {
+  entry {
+    let v0 = 1
+    let v0 = 2
+    print(v0)
+  }
+}

selfhost/backend/emit_core.ludic

@@ -496,11 +496,29 @@ function loc_reset() -> void { nloc = 0 }
 # push a local. Defaults to mutable (params, loop and query bindings are all
 # reassignable/rebindable); a `let` binding marks its slot immutable afterward
 # via loc_set_mut, so a later `name = …` can be rejected.
+var loc_blk: []int = null            # the block each local was declared in
+var g_blk_cur: int = 0
+var g_blk_next: int = 0
 function loc_push(name: pointer, r: pointer, ty: pointer) -> void {
+  if loc_blk == null { loc_blk = new []int }
   if nloc < len(loc_name) { loc_name[nloc] = name;  loc_reg[nloc] = r;  loc_ty[nloc] = ty;  loc_mut[nloc] = 1 }
   else { push(loc_name, name);  push(loc_reg, r);  push(loc_ty, ty);  push(loc_mut, 1) }
+  while len(loc_blk) <= nloc { push(loc_blk, 0) }
+  loc_blk[nloc] = -1                     # a parameter, a loop variable, a binding: not a declaration
   nloc += 1
 }
+# the local just pushed was a `let` / `var`: it is declared in this block
+function loc_mark_declared() -> void { if nloc > 0 { loc_blk[nloc - 1] = g_blk_cur } }
+# a `let` / `var` of a name this very block already declared: the second silently shadowed the
+# first, and a settings page compared a vegetation setting against the volumetric one for it
+function loc_check_redeclared(name: pointer) -> void {
+  if loc_blk == null { return }
+  var i = 0
+  while i < nloc {
+    if (loc_name[i] == name) and loc_blk[i] == g_blk_cur { perr(`'{name}' is declared twice in this block`) }
+    i += 1
+  }
+}
 function loc_set_mut(m: int) -> void { if nloc > 0 { loc_mut[nloc - 1] = m } }
 function loc_find(name: pointer) -> int {
   var i = nloc - 1

selfhost/backend/emit_decl.ludic

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ function emit_fn(d: Node) -> void {
     i += 1
   }
   emit_block(d.a)
+  if not (rl == "void") and not block_ends(d.a) { perr(`function '{d.s}' can reach its end without returning a {ret_ty}`) }
   if not g_term { emit("  br label %ret\n") }
   emit("ret:\n")
   if (rl == "void") { emit("  ret void\n") }
@@ -204,8 +205,39 @@ function check_duplicate_fns() -> void {
   }
 }
 
+# the program's own globals and types, each name once: the first definition used to win
+# silently, and a game read an arrow key as a binding slot's number for months because two files
+# both said KEY_LEFT. Declarations spliced in from the runtime are the runtime's business.
+function decl_group(k: int) -> int {
+  if k == N_VAR or k == N_CONST or k == N_ENUM { return 1 }
+  if k == N_STRUCT or k == N_COMP or k == N_EVENT { return 2 }
+  return 0
+}
+function check_duplicate_decls() -> void {
+  let n = g_prog_user_end
+  var i = 0
+  while i < n and i < len(prog) {
+    let d = prog[i]
+    let g = decl_group(d.kind)
+    if g > 0 {
+      var j = i + 1
+      while j < n and j < len(prog) {
+        let o = prog[j]
+        if decl_group(o.kind) == g and (o.s == d.s) {
+          g_err_file = o.file
+          g_err_line = o.line
+          perr(`'{d.s}' is defined twice (first in {d.file}:{itoa(d.line)})`)
+        }
+        j += 1
+      }
+    }
+    i += 1
+  }
+}
+
 function emit_program() -> void {
   check_duplicate_fns()
+  check_duplicate_decls()
   head = buf_new()
   code = buf_new()
   g_uses_str = false

selfhost/backend/emit_stmt.ludic

@@ -2,12 +2,17 @@
 # block is skipped until a new basic block opens.
 
 function emit_block(b: Node) -> void {
+  # each block is its own place to declare a name once (loc_blk), though a local declared in a
+  # block still stays visible after it
+  let outer = g_blk_cur
+  g_blk_next += 1
+  g_blk_cur = g_blk_next
   var i = 0
-  while i < len(b.kids) {
-    if g_term { return }
+  while i < len(b.kids) and not g_term {
     emit_stmt(b.kids[i])
     i += 1
   }
+  g_blk_cur = outer
 }
 
 # store `val` (llvm type `lt`) into address `addr`
@@ -126,6 +131,39 @@ function emit_return(st: Node) -> void {
   g_term = true
 }
 
+# Does this block always end - a return on every path through it? A return ends it; an `if` ends
+# it when it has an `else` and both branches end; a `match` when it has a default arm and every
+# arm ends. Asked of a function's body, so one with a result cannot run off its end.
+function block_ends(b: Node) -> bool {
+  if b == null { return false }
+  var i = 0
+  while i < len(b.kids) {
+    if stmt_ends(b.kids[i]) { return true }
+    i += 1
+  }
+  return false
+}
+function stmt_ends(st: Node) -> bool {
+  if st.kind == S_RETURN { return true }
+  if st.kind == S_IF {
+    if st.c == null or not block_ends(st.b) { return false }
+    if st.c.kind == S_IF { return stmt_ends(st.c) }
+    return block_ends(st.c)
+  }
+  if st.kind == S_MATCH {
+    var has_default = false
+    var i = 0
+    while i < len(st.kids) {
+      let arm = st.kids[i]
+      if arm_is_default(arm) { has_default = true }
+      if not block_ends(arm.a) { return false }
+      i += 1
+    }
+    return has_default
+  }
+  return false
+}
+
 function arm_is_default(arm: Node) -> bool {
   var p = 0
   while p < len(arm.kids) { if arm.kids[p].kind == E_ID and (arm.kids[p].s == "_") { return true }; p += 1 }
@@ -312,14 +350,16 @@ function emit_stmt(st: Node) -> void {
   g_err_file = st.file;  g_err_line = st.line      # so a lowering error names its statement
   emit_cov_hit(st.line)                            # --coverage: bump this line's hit counter (no-op otherwise)
   if st.kind == S_LET {
+    loc_check_redeclared(st.s)
     var ty = st.ty
     if (ty == null) { let v0 = emit_expr(st.a);  ty = v0.ty
-      let slot = emit_alloca(llty(ty));  store_at(llty(ty), v0.code, slot);  loc_push(st.s, slot, ty);  loc_set_mut(st.ival);  return }
+      let slot = emit_alloca(llty(ty));  store_at(llty(ty), v0.code, slot);  loc_push(st.s, slot, ty);  loc_mark_declared();  loc_set_mut(st.ival);  return }
     let slot = emit_alloca(llty(ty))
     if (st.a == null) {
       store_at(llty(ty), zero_of(llty(ty)), slot)
     } else { let v = emit_expr(st.a);  store_at(llty(ty), coerce_code(v, ty), slot) }
     loc_push(st.s, slot, ty)
+    loc_mark_declared()
     loc_set_mut(st.ival)
     return
   }

tools/ludic-cli/test.ludic

@@ -20,6 +20,17 @@ function feat_case(path: pointer, keys: pointer, exp: pointer, label: pointer) -
   if (got == exp) { ok(label) } else { bad2(label, `got [{got}] want [{exp}]`) }
 }
 
+# an example the compiler must REFUSE, with `want` in the message
+function reject_case(path: pointer, want: pointer, label: pointer) -> void {
+  let ll = `{tmp_dir()}/rj_{flat(path)}.ll`
+  if shq(`bin/ludicc examples/{path}.ludic --emit-llvm -o {ll} 2>{tmp_dir()}/rj.err`) {
+    bad2(label, "compiled, and should have been refused")
+    return
+  }
+  let got = capture_line(`grep -i error {tmp_dir()}/rj.err | head -1`)
+  if s_contains(got, want) { ok(label) } else { bad2(label, `refused, but said [{got}]`) }
+}
+
 # a feature example that consumes an in-repo controller package (packages/): same
 # as feat_case, but the compiler is pointed at packages/ via LUDIC_MODULES so a
 # `import "ludic.foo/bar.ludic"` resolves, and LUDIC_HOME anchors the engine
@@ -689,6 +700,10 @@ function cmd_dev_test() -> int {
   feat_case("events/promote", "", "100 101 200 201", "promote.ludic (@Public -> model_<M>_spawn/despawn events)")
   feat_case("events/cancel", "", "0 1 92", "cancel.ludic (cancellable event + cancel + emit-as-expression)")
   feat_case("events/answer", "", "10 20 0", "answer.ludic (a listener's return ends that listener, not the dispatch)")
+  reject_case("rejected/duplicate_const", "'KEY_LEFT' is defined twice", "a const defined twice is refused, naming both places")
+  reject_case("rejected/duplicate_property", "'Look' is defined twice", "a property defined twice is refused")
+  reject_case("rejected/redeclared_local", "'v0' is declared twice in this block", "a local declared twice in one block is refused")
+  reject_case("rejected/missing_return", "can reach its end without returning", "a function that can run off its end without its result is refused")
 
   # EV2 the world table: the mod reflection ABI, callable from Ludic by name.
   net_case("ecs/world_get", "50 1 7")