1 files changed, 29 insertions, 9 deletions

diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/types/fmt.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/types/fmt.go
index b4d1f6c8bb..095b795d03 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/types/fmt.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/types/fmt.go
@@ -242,17 +242,37 @@ func (t *Type) String() string {
 	return tconv(t, 0, fmtGo)
 }
 
-// ShortString generates a short description of t.
-// It is used in autogenerated method names, reflection,
-// and itab names.
-func (t *Type) ShortString() string {
+// LinkString returns an unexpanded string description of t, suitable
+// for use in link symbols. "Unexpanded" here means that the
+// description uses `"".` to qualify identifiers from the current
+// package, and "expansion" refers to the renaming step performed by
+// the linker to replace these qualifiers with proper `path/to/pkg.`
+// qualifiers.
+//
+// After expansion, the description corresponds to type identity. That
+// is, for any pair of types t1 and t2, Identical(t1, t2) and
+// expand(t1.LinkString()) == expand(t2.LinkString()) report the same
+// value.
+//
+// Within a single compilation unit, LinkString always returns the
+// same unexpanded description for identical types. Thus it's safe to
+// use as a map key to implement a type-identity-keyed map. However,
+// make sure all LinkString calls used for this purpose happen within
+// the same compile process; the string keys are not stable across
+// multiple processes.
+func (t *Type) LinkString() string {
 	return tconv(t, 0, fmtTypeID)
 }
 
-// LongString generates a complete description of t.
-// It is useful for reflection,
-// or when a unique fingerprint or hash of a type is required.
-func (t *Type) LongString() string {
+// NameString generates a user-readable, mostly unique string
+// description of t. NameString always returns the same description
+// for identical types, even across compilation units.
+//
+// NameString qualifies identifiers by package name, so it has
+// collisions when different packages share the same names and
+// identifiers. It also does not distinguish function-scope defined
+// types from package-scoped defined types or from each other.
+func (t *Type) NameString() string {
 	return tconv(t, 0, fmtTypeIDName)
 }
 
@@ -677,7 +697,7 @@ func FmtConst(v constant.Value, sharp bool) string {
 
 // TypeHash computes a hash value for type t to use in type switch statements.
 func TypeHash(t *Type) uint32 {
-	p := t.LongString()
+	p := t.NameString()
 
 	// Using MD5 is overkill, but reduces accidental collisions.
 	h := md5.Sum([]byte(p))