Auto merge of #11675 - ehuss:z-features-behavior, r=epage

Add more guidance on how to implement unstable features

This adds some clarification around how unstable features should be introduced, particularly when interacting with global config settings that may be read by older releases.

Note that the current set of unstable features violates some of these guidelines, and may deserve some attention in fixing up:
* `-Z profile-rustflags`: it is an error if `rustflags` is found in `config.toml`. This could potentially make it awkward to stabilize if the user wants to place rustflags in their global config. I think that may be rare, though I can imagine some users wanting `-Ctarget-cpu=native` or similar.
* `-Z codegen-backend`: it is an error if `codegen-backend` is found in `config.toml`. I'm not sure about the likelihood of users setting this globally, but I could imagine people might want to opt-in to cranelift.
* `codegen-backend` does *not* require `cargo-features` in `Cargo.toml`, but it probably should since it is new syntax.
* `-Z bindeps` does *not* require `cargo-features` in `Cargo.toml`, but it probably should since it is new syntax. I understand requiring both `cargo-features` and `-Z` is awkward, but each has independent reasons for being needed.

Author: bors

src/cargo/core/features.rs

@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@
 //!
 //! ## `-Z` options
 //!
+//! New `-Z` options cover all other functionality that isn't covered with
+//! `cargo-features` or `-Z unstable-options`.
+//!
 //! The steps to add a new `-Z` option are:
 //!
 //! 1. Add the option to the [`CliUnstable`] struct below. Flags can take an
@@ -68,6 +71,43 @@
 //!    and check if the option has been enabled on the [`CliUnstable`] instance.
 //!    Nightly gating is already handled, so no need to worry about that.
 //!
+//! ### `-Z` vs `cargo-features`
+//!
+//! In some cases there might be some changes that `cargo-features` is unable
+//! to sufficiently encompass. An example would be a syntax change in
+//! `Cargo.toml` that also impacts the index or resolver. The resolver doesn't
+//! know about `cargo-features`, so it needs a `-Z` flag to enable the
+//! experimental functionality.
+//!
+//! In those cases, you usually should introduce both a `-Z` flag (to enable
+//! the changes outside of the manifest) and a `cargo-features` entry (to
+//! enable the new syntax in `Cargo.toml`). The `cargo-features` entry ensures
+//! that any experimental syntax that gets uploaded to crates.io is clearly
+//! intended for nightly-only builds. Otherwise, users accessing those crates
+//! may get confusing errors, particularly if the syntax changes during the
+//! development cycle, and the user tries to access it with a stable release.
+//!
+//! ### `-Z` with external files
+//!
+//! Some files, such as `config.toml` config files, or the `config.json` index
+//! file, are used in a global location which can make interaction with stable
+//! releases problematic. In general, before the feature is stabilized, stable
+//! Cargo should behave roughly similar to how it behaved *before* the
+//! unstable feature was introduced. If Cargo would normally have ignored or
+//! warned about the introduction of something, then it probably should
+//! continue to do so.
+//!
+//! For example, Cargo generally ignores (or warns) about `config.toml`
+//! entries it doesn't know about. This allows a limited degree of
+//! forwards-compatibility with future versions of Cargo that add new entries.
+//!
+//! Whether or not to warn on stable may need to be decided on a case-by-case
+//! basis. For example, you may want to avoid generating a warning for options
+//! that are not critical to Cargo's operation in order to reduce the
+//! annoyance of constant warnings. However, ignoring some options may prevent
+//! proper operation, so a warning may be valuable for a user trying to
+//! diagnose why it isn't working correctly.
+//!
 //! ## Stabilization
 //!
 //! For the stabilization process, see