[stouset]

Okay but who is writing code like this instead of using `use`?

Also this is an no-win situation. C++, Ruby, Perl, and others have used `::` as module-scoping syntax for decades. If Rust does something novel, it's penalized for being unfamiliar. If Rust uses syntax for which there's ample prior art, it's apparently line noise. If rust used a `.` as a separator, it's unclear if you're descending into modules or calling a function chain.

There's literally no way to win.

[coderedart]

If an import is used rarely, then i prefer qualifying paths instead of importing them.

This is especially true when there's similarly named items from different paths. Best example is `Result`/`Error` types. eg: std::io::Result vs normal default Result vs other crate's Result type. Another example would be math types like Vec2 between game engine and egui. String in mlua vs std rust etc..

Usually you can get around this by importing it with a different name like `use mlua::String as LuaString`. but it is still something that you need to actively do.

[malcolmstill]

I did use the example of long run of module names, and I do take your point about `use` (though I have to sometimes read the very top of a file too!)...but the same applies to a lesser extent to the "last mile" module (e.g. `String::from`, `Vec::new`) which will be seen throughout any rust code.

> If rust used a `.` as a separator, it's unclear if you're descending into modules or calling a function chain

Interestingly, from the zig documentation:

    Zig source files are implicitly structs, with a name equal to the file's basename with the extension truncated. @import returns the struct type corresponding to the file.

This means that there isn't really any difference between accessing a struct field and accessing something in module...the module is also a kind of struct (and rust, as in zig, differentiating struct field access vs function invocation is possible because of the parens in the latter).

[lloydatkinson]

> There's literally no way to win.

Yes there is? Follow what C#, F#, Java, TypeScript, etc. do