gopls/doc: address additional comments on workspace.md

Address follow-up comments on CL 566936.

Change-Id: I03160f4b58dc64fbde32bf4bfc0ce605573641d1
Reviewed-on: https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/tools/+/567255
LUCI-TryBot-Result: Go LUCI <[email protected]>
Reviewed-by: Alan Donovan <[email protected]>
Auto-Submit: Robert Findley <[email protected]>

Author: findleyr

gopls/doc/workspace.md

@@ -1,25 +1,38 @@
 # Setting up your workspace
 
-**In general, `gopls` should work when you open a Go file contained in your
-workspace folder**. If it isn't working for you, or if you want to better
-understand how gopls models your workspace, please read on.
+In the language server protocol, a "workspace" consists of a folder along with
+per-folder configuration. Some LSP clients such as VS Code allow configuring
+workspaces explicitly, while others do so automatically by looking for special
+files defining a workspace root (such as a `.git` directory or `go.mod` file).
+
+In order to function, gopls needs a defined scope in which language features
+like references, rename, and implementation should operate. Put differently,
+gopls needs to infer from the LSP workspace which  `go build` invocations you
+would use to build your workspace, including the working directory,
+environment, and build flags.
+
+In the past, it could be tricky to set up your workspace so that gopls would
+infer the correct build information. It required opening the correct directory
+or using a `go.work` file to tell gopls about the modules you're working on,
+and configuring the correct operating system and architecture in advance.
+When this didn't work as expected, gopls would often fail in mysterious
+ways--the dreaded "No packages found" error.
+
+Starting with gopls v0.15.0, workspace configuration is much simpler, and gopls
+will typically work when you open a Go file anywhere in your workspace. If it
+isn't working for you, or if you want to better understand how gopls models
+your workspace, please read on.
 
 ## Workspace builds
 
-`gopls` supports both Go module and GOPATH modes. However, it needs a defined
-scope in which language features like references, rename, and implementation
-should operate. Put differently, gopls needs to infer which `go build`
-invocations you would use to build your workspace, including the working
-directory, environment, and build flags.
-
-Starting with `[email protected]`, gopls will try to guess the builds you are
-working on based on the set of open files. When you open a file in a workspace
-folder, gopls will check whether the file is contained in a module, `go.work`
-workspace, or GOPATH directory, and configure the build accordingly.
-Additionally, if you open a file that is constrained to a different operating
-system or architecture, for example opening `foo_windows.go` when working on
-Linux, gopls will create a scope with `GOOS` and `GOARCH` set to a value that
-matches the file.
+Starting with gopls v0.15.0, gopls will guess the builds you are working on
+based on the set of open files. When you open a file in a workspace folder,
+gopls checks whether the file is contained in a module, `go.work` workspace, or
+GOPATH directory, and configures the build accordingly. Additionally, if you
+open a file that is constrained to a different operating system or
+architecture, for example opening `foo_windows.go` when working on Linux, gopls
+will create a scope with `GOOS` and `GOARCH` set to a value that matches the
+file.
 
 For example, suppose we had a repository with three modules: `moda`, `modb`,
 and `modc`, and a `go.work` file using modules `moda` and `modb`. If we open
@@ -28,69 +41,65 @@ will automatically create three builds:
 
 ![Zero Config gopls](zeroconfig.png)
 
-This allows `gopls` to _just work_ when you open a Go file, but it does come with
+This allows gopls to _just work_ when you open a Go file, but it does come with
 several caveats:
 
-- This causes gopls to do more work, since it is now tracking three builds
+- It causes gopls to do more work, since it is now tracking three builds
   instead of one. However, the recent
   [scalability redesign](https://go.dev/blog/gopls-scalability)
   allows much of this work to be avoided through efficient caching.
-- In some cases this may cause gopls to do more work, since gopls is now
-  tracking three builds instead of one. However, the recent
-  [scalability redesign](https://go.dev/blog/gopls-scalability) allows us
-  to avoid most of this work by efficient caching.
-- For operations originating from a given file, including finding references
-  and implementations, gopls executes the operation in
+- For operations invoked from a given file, such as "References"
+  or "Implementations", gopls executes the operation in
   _the default build for that file_. For example, finding references to
   a symbol `S` from `foo_linux.go` will return references from the Linux build,
   and finding references to the same symbol `S` from `foo_windows.go` will
-  return references from the Windows build. This is done for performance
-  reasons, as in the common case one build is sufficient, but may lead to
-  surprising results. Issues [#65757](https://go.dev/issue/65757) and
+  return references from the Windows build. Gopls searches the default build
+  for the file, but it doesn't search all the other possible builds (even
+  though that would be nice) because it is liable to be too expensive.
+  Issues [#65757](https://go.dev/issue/65757) and
   [#65755](https://go.dev/issue/65755) propose improvements to this behavior.
 - When selecting a `GOOS/GOARCH` combination to match a build-constrained file,
-  `gopls` will choose the first matching combination from
+  gopls will choose the first matching combination from
   [this list](https://cs.opensource.google/go/x/tools/+/master:gopls/internal/cache/port.go;l=30;drc=f872b3d6f05822d290bc7bdd29db090fd9d89f5c).
   In some cases, that may be surprising.
 - When working in a `GOOS/GOARCH` constrained file that does not match your
-  default toolchain, `CGO_ENABLED=0` is implicitly set. This means that `gopls`
-  will not work in files including `import "C"`. Issue
+  default toolchain, `CGO_ENABLED=0` is implicitly set, since a C toolchain for
+  that target is unlikely to be available. This means that gopls will not
+  work in files including `import "C"`. Issue
   [#65758](https://go.dev/issue/65758) may lead to improvements in this
   behavior.
-- `gopls` is not able to guess build flags that include arbitrary user-defined
-  build constraints. For example, if you are trying to work on a file that is
-  constrained by the build directive `//go:build special`, gopls will not guess
-  that it needs to create a build with `"buildFlags": ["-tags=special"]`. Issue
-  [#65089](https://go.dev/issue/65089) proposes a heuristic by which gopls
-  could handle this automatically.
+- Gopls is currently unable to guess build flags that include arbitrary
+  user-defined build constraints, such as a file with the build directive
+  `//go:build mytag`. Issue [#65089](https://go.dev/issue/65089) proposes
+  a heuristic by which gopls could handle this automatically.
 
-We hope that you provide feedback on this behavior by upvoting or commenting
-the issues mentioned above, or opening a [new issue](https://go.dev/issue/new)
-for other improvements you'd like to see.
+Please provide feedback on this behavior by upvoting or commenting the issues
+mentioned above, or opening a [new issue](https://go.dev/issue/new) for other
+improvements you'd like to see.
 
 ## When to use a `go.work` file for development
 
-Starting with Go 1.18, the `go` command has native support for multi-module
-workspaces, via [`go.work`](https://go.dev/ref/mod#workspaces) files. `gopls`
-will recognize these files if they are present in your workspace.
+Starting with Go 1.18, the `go` command has built-in support for multi-module
+workspaces specified by [`go.work`](https://go.dev/ref/mod#workspaces) files.
+Gopls will recognize these files if they are present in your workspace.
 
 Use a `go.work` file when:
 
-- You want to work on multiple modules simultaneously in a single logical
+- you want to work on multiple modules simultaneously in a single logical
   build, for example if you want changes to one module to be reflected in
   another.
-- You want to improve `gopls'` memory usage or performance by reducing the number
+- you want to improve gopls' memory usage or performance by reducing the number
   of builds it must track.
-- You want `gopls` to know which modules you are working on in a multi-module
-  workspace, without opening any files. For example, if you want to use
+- you want gopls to know which modules you are working on in a multi-module
+  workspace, without opening any files. For example, it may be convenient to use
   `workspace/symbol` queries before any files are open.
-- You are using `gopls@v0.14.2` or earlier, and want to work on multiple
+- you are using gopls v0.14.2 or earlier, and want to work on multiple
   modules.
 
 For example, suppose this repo is checked out into the `$WORK/tools` directory,
 and [`x/mod`](https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/mod) is checked out into
 `$WORK/mod`, and you are working on a new `x/mod` API for editing `go.mod`
-files that you want to simultaneously integrate into `gopls`.
+files that you want to simultaneously integrate into gopls.
 
 You can work on both `golang.org/x/tools/gopls` and `golang.org/x/mod`
 simultaneously by creating a `go.work` file:
@@ -101,30 +110,30 @@ go work init
 go work use tools/gopls mod
 ```
 
-...followed by opening the `$WORK` directory in your editor.
+then opening the `$WORK` directory in your editor.
 
 ## When to manually configure `GOOS`, `GOARCH`, or `-tags`
 
-As described in the first section, `gopls@v0.15.0` and later will try to
+As described in the first section, gopls v0.15.0 and later will try to
 configure a new build scope automatically when you open a file that doesn't
 match the system default operating system (`GOOS`) or architecture (`GOARCH`).
 
 However, per the caveats listed in that section, this automatic behavior comes
-with limitations. Customize your `gopls` environment by setting `GOOS` or
+with limitations. Customize your gopls environment by setting `GOOS` or
 `GOARCH` in your
 [`"build.env"`](https://github.com/golang/tools/blob/master/gopls/doc/settings.md#env-mapstringstring)
 or `-tags=...` in your"
 ["build.buildFlags"](https://github.com/golang/tools/blob/master/gopls/doc/settings.md#buildflags-string)
 when:
 
 - You want to modify the default build environment.
-- `gopls` is not guessing the `GOOS/GOARCH` combination you want to use for
+- Gopls is not guessing the `GOOS/GOARCH` combination you want to use for
   cross platform development.
 - You need to work on a file that is constrained by a user-defined build tags,
-  such as the build directive `//go:build special`.
+  such as the build directive `//go:build mytag`.
 
 ## GOPATH mode
 
-When opening a directory within your `GOPATH`, the workspace scope will be just
-that directory and all directories contained within it. Note that opening
-a large GOPATH directory can make gopls very slow to start.
+When opening a directory within a `GOPATH` directory, the workspace scope will
+be just that directory and all directories contained within it. Note that
+opening a large GOPATH directory can make gopls very slow to start.