protocolbuffers/protobuf

support documentation in code generated bindings

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#985 opened on Nov 18, 2015

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P3enhancementhelp wanted

Description

A nice to have feature would be to copy over documentation present on the protobuf files into the code generated files for cpp, python. I believe it works for java currently.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpppython
Domain
developer experiencedocumentation
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Protocol BuffersC++ code generationPython code generation
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
30
Research direction
Investigate how Java documentation is currently copied in the protobuf code generation (likely in src/google/protobuf/compiler/java/). Then examine the corresponding C++ and Python generators (src/google/protobuf/compiler/cpp/, src/google/protobuf/compiler/python/) to modify them to include comments from .proto files. Look at how the Java generator extracts comments (e.g., using SourceLocation) and replicate that logic for the other languages.