feat: add AOT-safe ViewLocator with source-generated view dispatch

src/ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators/BindingGenerator.cs

@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@ namespace ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators;
 
 /// <summary>
 /// The main incremental source generator entry point for ReactiveUI property observation and binding.
-/// Orchestrates two pipelines:
+/// Orchestrates three pipelines:
 /// Pipeline A (Type Detection): Detects notification mechanisms and generates high-affinity fallback binders.
 /// Pipeline B (Invocation Detection): Detects WhenChanged/WhenChanging/Bind calls and generates per-invocation code.
+/// Pipeline C (View Dispatch): Scans IViewFor&lt;T&gt; implementations and generates AOT-safe view locator dispatch.
 /// </summary>
 [Generator]
 public class BindingGenerator : IIncrementalGenerator
@@ -91,6 +92,9 @@ internal static partial class __ReactiveUIGeneratedBindings
             consolidated,
             static (ctx, data) => RegistrationGenerator.Generate(ctx, data));
 
+        // Pipeline C: View locator dispatch (IViewFor<T> scanning)
+        ViewLocatorDispatchGenerator.Register(context);
+
         // Pipeline B: Invocation detection (separate pipelines per API)
         // Each invocation generator receives supportsCallerArgExpr to control dispatch strategy
         WhenChangedInvocationGenerator.Register(context, allClasses, supportsCallerArgExpr);

src/ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators/Constants.cs

@@ -130,6 +130,11 @@ internal static class Constants
     /// </summary>
     internal const string BindCommandMethodName = "BindCommand";
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Metadata name for the open generic <c>IViewFor&lt;T&gt;</c> interface used for view resolution.
+    /// </summary>
+    internal const string IViewForGenericMetadataName = "ReactiveUI.Binding.IViewFor`1";
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Metadata name for the <c>IBindingTypeConverter</c> interface used for custom type conversions.
     /// </summary>

src/ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators/Generators/ViewLocatorDispatchGenerator.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,224 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2019-2026 ReactiveUI Association Incorporated. All rights reserved.
+// ReactiveUI Association Incorporated licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
+
+using System.Collections.Immutable;
+using System.Text;
+
+using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis;
+
+using ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators.Helpers;
+using ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators.Models;
+
+namespace ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators.Generators;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Generates the AOT-safe view dispatch code for <see cref="ViewRegistrationInfo"/> entries.
+/// Emits a type-switch function that resolves views without reflection.
+/// </summary>
+internal static class ViewLocatorDispatchGenerator
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Registers the view locator dispatch pipeline into the incremental generator.
+    /// Scans for classes implementing <c>IViewFor&lt;T&gt;</c> and generates a dispatch method.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="context">The incremental generator initialization context.</param>
+    internal static void Register(IncrementalGeneratorInitializationContext context)
+    {
+        // Reuse Pipeline A's class-with-base-list predicate
+        var viewRegistrations = context.SyntaxProvider
+            .CreateSyntaxProvider(
+                predicate: RoslynHelpers.IsClassWithBaseList,
+                transform: ViewRegistrationExtractor.ExtractFromIViewForImplementation)
+            .Where(static x => x is not null)
+            .Select(static (x, _) => x!);
+
+        // Collect and deduplicate
+        var collected = viewRegistrations.Collect();
+
+        context.RegisterSourceOutput(collected, static (ctx, data) => Generate(ctx, data));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Generates the ViewDispatch.g.cs source file from collected view registrations.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="context">The source production context.</param>
+    /// <param name="registrations">All detected view registration infos.</param>
+    internal static void Generate(SourceProductionContext context, ImmutableArray<ViewRegistrationInfo> registrations)
+    {
+        if (!ExtractorValidation.HasItems(registrations))
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Deduplicate by ViewModel fully qualified name (first occurrence wins)
+        var deduplicated = Deduplicate(registrations);
+
+        var sb = new StringBuilder(2048 + (deduplicated.Count * 512));
+        GenerateSource(sb, deduplicated);
+        context.AddSource("ViewDispatch.g.cs", sb.ToString());
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Deduplicates view registrations by view model fully qualified name.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="registrations">The raw registrations.</param>
+    /// <returns>A deduplicated list of registrations.</returns>
+    private static List<ViewRegistrationInfo> Deduplicate(ImmutableArray<ViewRegistrationInfo> registrations)
+    {
+        var seen = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.Ordinal);
+        var result = new List<ViewRegistrationInfo>(registrations.Length);
+
+        for (var i = 0; i < registrations.Length; i++)
+        {
+            var reg = registrations[i];
+            if (seen.Add(reg.ViewModelFullyQualifiedName))
+            {
+                result.Add(reg);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Generates the full source output into the StringBuilder.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="sb">The string builder to write to.</param>
+    /// <param name="registrations">The deduplicated registrations.</param>
+    private static void GenerateSource(StringBuilder sb, List<ViewRegistrationInfo> registrations)
+    {
+        sb.AppendLine("// <auto-generated/>")
+            .AppendLine("#pragma warning disable")
+            .AppendLine()
+            .AppendLine("namespace ReactiveUI.Binding")
+            .AppendLine("{")
+            .AppendLine("    internal static partial class __ReactiveUIGeneratedBindings")
+            .AppendLine("    {");
+
+        // Static field initializer to trigger registration
+        sb.AppendLine("        /// <summary>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// Triggers view dispatch registration when the generated bindings class is loaded.")
+            .AppendLine("        /// </summary>")
+            .AppendLine("        private static readonly bool __viewDispatchRegistered = __RegisterViewDispatch();")
+            .AppendLine();
+
+        // Registration method
+        sb.AppendLine("        /// <summary>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// Registers the source-generated view dispatch function with")
+            .AppendLine("        /// <see cref=\"global::ReactiveUI.Binding.DefaultViewLocator\"/>.")
+            .AppendLine("        /// Called once via static field initializer when this class is first accessed.")
+            .AppendLine("        /// </summary>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// <returns>Always returns <see langword=\"true\"/>.</returns>")
+            .AppendLine("        private static bool __RegisterViewDispatch()")
+            .AppendLine("        {")
+            .AppendLine("            global::ReactiveUI.Binding.DefaultViewLocator.SetGeneratedViewDispatch(")
+            .AppendLine("                __TryResolveView);")
+            .AppendLine("            return true;")
+            .AppendLine("        }")
+            .AppendLine();
+
+        // Dispatch method
+        sb.AppendLine("        /// <summary>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// Compile-time generated type-switch dispatch for view resolution.")
+            .AppendLine("        /// Attempts to resolve a view for the given view model instance without reflection.")
+            .AppendLine("        /// </summary>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// <param name=\"instance\">The view model instance to resolve a view for.</param>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// <param name=\"contract\">The contract string (empty string for default).</param>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// <returns>The resolved view, or <see langword=\"null\"/> if no generated mapping exists.</returns>")
+            .AppendLine("        private static global::ReactiveUI.Binding.IViewFor __TryResolveView(")
+            .AppendLine("            object instance, string contract)")
+            .AppendLine("        {");
+
+        for (var i = 0; i < registrations.Count; i++)
+        {
+            var reg = registrations[i];
+            var resolverMethodName = "__ResolveView_" + i;
+
+            sb.Append("            // ").Append(reg.ViewModelFullyQualifiedName)
+                .Append(" -> ").AppendLine(reg.ViewFullyQualifiedName)
+                .Append("            if (instance is ").Append(reg.ViewModelFullyQualifiedName).AppendLine(")")
+                .AppendLine("            {")
+                .Append("                return ").Append(resolverMethodName).AppendLine("(contract);")
+                .AppendLine("            }")
+                .AppendLine();
+        }
+
+        sb.AppendLine("            // No compile-time mapping found; fall back to runtime resolution.")
+            .AppendLine("            return null;")
+            .AppendLine("        }");
+
+        // Per-view resolver methods
+        for (var i = 0; i < registrations.Count; i++)
+        {
+            GenerateResolverMethod(sb, registrations[i], i);
+        }
+
+        sb.AppendLine("    }")
+            .AppendLine("}");
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Generates a per-view-model resolver method.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="sb">The string builder.</param>
+    /// <param name="reg">The view registration info.</param>
+    /// <param name="index">The unique index for method naming.</param>
+    private static void GenerateResolverMethod(StringBuilder sb, ViewRegistrationInfo reg, int index)
+    {
+        var methodName = "__ResolveView_" + index;
+
+        sb.AppendLine()
+            .AppendLine("        /// <summary>")
+            .Append("        /// Resolves a view for <see cref=\"")
+            .Append(reg.ViewModelFullyQualifiedName).AppendLine("\"/>.");
+
+        if (reg.HasParameterlessConstructor)
+        {
+            sb.AppendLine("        /// Tries the service locator first, then falls back to direct construction.");
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            sb.AppendLine("        /// Service locator only — no direct construction available.");
+        }
+
+        sb.AppendLine("        /// </summary>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// <param name=\"contract\">The contract string (empty string for default).</param>")
+            .AppendLine("        /// <returns>The resolved view, or <see langword=\"null\"/> if resolution fails.</returns>")
+            .Append("        private static global::ReactiveUI.Binding.IViewFor ")
+            .Append(methodName).AppendLine("(string contract)")
+            .AppendLine("        {");
+
+        // Normalize contract
+        sb.AppendLine("            // Normalize contract: empty string means no contract (null for Splat lookup).")
+            .AppendLine("            string svcContract = contract.Length == 0 ? null : contract;")
+            .AppendLine();
+
+        // Service locator lookup
+        sb.AppendLine("            // Prefer service-locator-registered view (supports DI-configured instances).")
+            .AppendLine("            var view = global::Splat.AppLocator.Current")
+            .Append("                .GetService<global::ReactiveUI.Binding.IViewFor<")
+            .Append(reg.ViewModelFullyQualifiedName).AppendLine(">>(")
+            .AppendLine("                    svcContract);")
+            .AppendLine("            if (view != null)")
+            .AppendLine("            {")
+            .AppendLine("                return view;")
+            .AppendLine("            }");
+
+        // Direct construction fallback
+        if (reg.HasParameterlessConstructor)
+        {
+            sb.AppendLine()
+                .Append("            // Fallback: direct construction (")
+                .Append(reg.ViewFullyQualifiedName).AppendLine(" has a parameterless constructor).")
+                .Append("            return new ").Append(reg.ViewFullyQualifiedName).AppendLine("();");
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            sb.AppendLine()
+                .AppendLine("            return null;");
+        }
+
+        sb.AppendLine("        }");
+    }
+}

src/ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators/Helpers/ViewRegistrationExtractor.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2019-2026 ReactiveUI Association Incorporated. All rights reserved.
+// ReactiveUI Association Incorporated licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
+
+using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis;
+using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Syntax;
+
+using ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators.Models;
+
+namespace ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators.Helpers;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Extracts <see cref="ViewRegistrationInfo"/> from class declarations implementing <c>IViewFor&lt;T&gt;</c>.
+/// </summary>
+internal static class ViewRegistrationExtractor
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Extracts a <see cref="ViewRegistrationInfo"/> from a class that implements <c>IViewFor&lt;T&gt;</c>.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="context">The generator syntax context.</param>
+    /// <param name="ct">Cancellation token.</param>
+    /// <returns>A <see cref="ViewRegistrationInfo"/> if the class implements <c>IViewFor&lt;T&gt;</c>; otherwise, <see langword="null"/>.</returns>
+    internal static ViewRegistrationInfo? ExtractFromIViewForImplementation(
+        GeneratorSyntaxContext context,
+        CancellationToken ct)
+    {
+        var classDecl = (ClassDeclarationSyntax)context.Node;
+        var semanticModel = context.SemanticModel;
+        var typeSymbol = semanticModel.GetDeclaredSymbol(classDecl, ct) as INamedTypeSymbol;
+
+        if (typeSymbol is null || typeSymbol.IsAbstract)
+        {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        var iViewForGeneric = semanticModel.Compilation.GetTypeByMetadataName(
+            Constants.IViewForGenericMetadataName);
+
+        // Walk AllInterfaces to find IViewFor<T>
+        var allInterfaces = typeSymbol.AllInterfaces;
+        for (var i = 0; i < allInterfaces.Length; i++)
+        {
+            ct.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
+            var iface = allInterfaces[i];
+
+            if (iViewForGeneric is object
+                && iface.IsGenericType
+                && SymbolEqualityComparer.Default.Equals(iface.OriginalDefinition, iViewForGeneric)
+                && iface.TypeArguments.Length == 1)
+            {
+                var viewModelType = iface.TypeArguments[0];
+                var viewModelFqn = viewModelType.ToDisplayString(SymbolDisplayFormat.FullyQualifiedFormat);
+                var viewFqn = typeSymbol.ToDisplayString(SymbolDisplayFormat.FullyQualifiedFormat);
+                var hasParameterlessCtor = HasAccessibleParameterlessConstructor(typeSymbol);
+
+                return new ViewRegistrationInfo(viewModelFqn, viewFqn, hasParameterlessCtor);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Checks whether the type has an accessible parameterless constructor (public or internal).
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="type">The type to check.</param>
+    /// <returns><see langword="true"/> if a parameterless constructor is accessible; otherwise, <see langword="false"/>.</returns>
+    private static bool HasAccessibleParameterlessConstructor(INamedTypeSymbol type)
+    {
+        var constructors = type.InstanceConstructors;
+        for (var i = 0; i < constructors.Length; i++)
+        {
+            var ctor = constructors[i];
+            if (ctor.Parameters.Length == 0
+                && (ctor.DeclaredAccessibility == Accessibility.Public
+                    || ctor.DeclaredAccessibility == Accessibility.Internal))
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+}

src/ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators/Models/ViewRegistrationInfo.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2019-2026 ReactiveUI Association Incorporated. All rights reserved.
+// ReactiveUI Association Incorporated licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
+
+namespace ReactiveUI.Binding.SourceGenerators.Models;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Value-equatable POCO representing a view-to-view-model mapping detected at compile time.
+/// Produced by scanning <c>IViewFor&lt;T&gt;</c> implementations and <c>Map&lt;TVM,TView&gt;()</c> call sites.
+/// Contains no ISymbol, SyntaxNode, or Location references.
+/// </summary>
+/// <param name="ViewModelFullyQualifiedName">The fully qualified name of the view model type (global:: prefixed).</param>
+/// <param name="ViewFullyQualifiedName">The fully qualified name of the view type (global:: prefixed).</param>
+/// <param name="HasParameterlessConstructor">Whether the view type has a parameterless constructor for direct instantiation.</param>
+internal sealed record ViewRegistrationInfo(
+    string ViewModelFullyQualifiedName,
+    string ViewFullyQualifiedName,
+    bool HasParameterlessConstructor) : IEquatable<ViewRegistrationInfo>;

src/ReactiveUI.Binding/Builder/IReactiveUIBindingBuilder.cs

@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ IReactiveUIBindingBuilder WithPlatformModule<T>(T module)
     /// <returns>The builder instance for chaining.</returns>
     IReactiveUIBindingBuilder WithCommandBinder(ICreatesCommandBinding binder);
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Configures the default view locator with explicit view-to-view-model mappings.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="configure">An action that receives a <see cref="ViewMappingBuilder"/> for registering mappings.</param>
+    /// <returns>The builder instance for chaining.</returns>
+    IReactiveUIBindingBuilder ConfigureViewLocator(Action<ViewMappingBuilder> configure);
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Builds the application and returns the configured instance.
     /// </summary>