std/path Spec

Path string manipulation on the POSIX / separator. Every function is pure string work: no filesystem access, no allocation beyond the returned String. The functions are built in Raven on std/string's String methods (length, substring, concat, char_at, starts_with, ends_with); the module import std/string and lets stdlib expansion merge it transitively.

Model

A path is a String whose components are separated by /. This is the only separator the module understands. Windows backslash (\) paths and drive letters are out of scope for v2.0; a \ is treated as an ordinary path byte.

Import

The functions have no natural single receiver, so they are free functions bound by a selective import:

import std/path { join, basename, dirname, extension, stem, is_absolute }

fun main() {
    let p = join("a/b", "c.txt")   // a/b/c.txt
    let d = dirname(p)             // a/b
    let f = basename(p)            // c.txt
    let e = extension(p)           // txt
    let s = stem(p)                // c
}

Surface

Function	Result	Notes
join(a, b)	String	join with a single /; never doubles when a ends with / or b starts with /. An empty operand returns the other unchanged.
basename(p)	String	final component after the last /, or the whole string when there is no /.
dirname(p)	String	everything up to the last /; "." when there is no /; "/" when the only / is at index 0.
extension(p)	String	substring after the last . in the basename, or "" when none. A leading dot (a dotfile such as .gitignore) is not an extension.
stem(p)	String	basename without its extension.
is_absolute(p)	Bool	whether p starts with /. The empty string is relative.

Indices are byte offsets, consistent with std/string. Paths are assumed to be valid UTF-8 with the separator and dot appearing only as their own single-byte ASCII forms.

normalize

normalize (resolving . and .. segments and collapsing repeated separators) is deferred. It is fiddly to specify (root escapes, trailing slashes, empty results) and not required by the current consumers. It can be added later without changing the existing surface.

Out of scope

• Windows \ separators, drive letters, and UNC paths.
• normalize and any ../. resolution.
• Filesystem queries (existence, canonicalization); those belong to std/fs.
• Splitting a path into a List of components (waits on a stable list return convention in the stdlib).