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//! Something borrowed, something... moved?
//!
//! - **Date:** October 12, 2015
//! - **Subject:** The `struct` data type constructor, and the basics of
//! Rust's "ownership" concept and "borrowing" and "moving".
//! - [**Audio**][mp3]
//!
//! [mp3]: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/cdn.newrustacean.com/file/newrustacean/e002.mp3
//!
//! <audio style="width: 100%" title="Something borrowed, something... moved?" controls preload=metadata src="https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/cdn.newrustacean.com/file/newrustacean/e002.mp3"></audio>
//!
//! # Notes
//!
//! Today's episode discusses, and the associated source code demonstrates,
//! a few basic behaviors of structs... including borrowing!
//!
//! After taking a short look at one of Rust's basic approaches to creating new
//! types, we dive into a *fairly* thorough overview of how borrowing works in
//! fairly run-of-the-mill Rust code. This is a basic introduction, and as such
//! I'm not getting into things like heap-allocated memory (`Box`) or dealing
//! with `move` semantics with threads or closures. (I haven't actually figured
//! those out well enough yet to write something like this for them!)
//!
//! As usual, you'll want to have the [`src`] open to see what I'm doing with
//! the components documented below.
//!
//! [`src`]: /src/show_notes/e002.rs.html
//!
//! # Links
//!
//! - `rustfmt` -- a tool for formatting Rust code
//! + [repo][1]
//! + ["rustfmt-ing Rust`][2]
//! + [Reddit discussion][3]
//! - RFC for incremental compilation
//! + [Text of the RFC][4]
//! + [GitHub pull request][5]
//!
//! [1]: https://github.com/nrc/rustfmt
//! [2]: http://www.ncameron.org/blog/rustfmt-ing-rust/
//! [3]: https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/3nt2vm/rustfmting_rust_please_help_me_rustfmt_the_rust/
//! [4]: https://github.com/nikomatsakis/rfcs/blob/incremental-compilation/text/0000-incremental-compilation.md
//! [5]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs/pull/1298
//!
//! # Follow/Support
//!
//! - New Rustacean:
//! + Twitter: [@newrustacean](https://www.twitter.com/newrustacean)
//! + App.net: [@newrustacean](https://alpha.app.net/newrustacean)
//! + <a href="https://www.patreon.com/newrustacean" rel="payment">Patreon</a>
//! + Email: [hello@newrustacean.com](mailto:hello@newrustacean.com)
//! - Chris Krycho
//! + Twitter: [@chriskrycho](https://www.twitter.com/chriskrycho)
//! + App.net: [@chriskrycho](https://alpha.app.net/chriskrycho)
/// This struct is simple but useful to see how borrowing and moving work.
#[derive(Debug)]
pub struct Circle {
/// X position of the circle's origin.
pub x: f64,
/// Y position of the circle's origin
pub y: f64,
/// Radius of the circle
pub r: f64,
}
/// Demonstrates how borrowing works with plain old functions.
pub fn demonstrate_ownership() {
// Just create a couple circles whose origin is at the origin.
let immutable = Circle::origin(14.0);
let mut mutable = Circle::origin(12.0);
// Borrow an immutable one immutably.
borrow(&immutable);
// You can't borrow an immutable type mutably.
// borrow_mut(&mut immutable);
// You can borrow a mutable type immutably, *or* mutably.
borrow(&mutable);
borrow_mut(&mut mutable);
println!(
"Updated the radius of the mutable reference: {:}",
mutable.r
);
// If I move an object, I can no longer access it afterward. If you
// uncomment the following line, you'll see that the Circle instances are
// no longer accessible. Note that moving and borrowing are orthogonal to
// mutability. It's not accessible after this because it actually gets
// dropped, i.e. de-allocated.
move_circle(immutable);
move_circle(mutable);
// println!("Immutable: {:?}", immutable);
// println!("Mutable: {:?}", mutable);
}
/// Demonstrates general borrowing of an immutable reference.
pub fn borrow(ref_to_circle: &Circle) {
// I can access but not change the values.
println!(
"Immutable reference-- origin: {:},{:} | Radius: {:}",
ref_to_circle.x, ref_to_circle.y, ref_to_circle.r
);
// You can uncomment this to see the compiler error if you try to *change*
// the contents.
// ref_to_circle.r *= 2.0;
// Similarly, if you try to reassign the reference itself, it will fail:
// *ref_to_circle = Circle::new()
}
/// Demonstrates general borrowing of a mutable reference.
pub fn borrow_mut(mutable_ref_to_circle: &mut Circle) {
// I can still access these values, of course.
println!(
"Mutable reference-- origin: {:},{:} | Radius: {:}",
mutable_ref_to_circle.x, mutable_ref_to_circle.y, mutable_ref_to_circle.r
);
// But I can also update the values.
mutable_ref_to_circle.r *= 2.0;
}
/// Demonstrates general moving of an instance.
pub fn move_circle(moved_circle: Circle) {
println!("Moved a circle: {:?}", moved_circle);
// Note that this is an immutable type: this won't compile.
// moved_circle.r *= 2.0;
// We own the object, but it's still immutable, so we can't reassign the
// name as we like.
// moved_circle = Circle::new(4.5, 9.0, 18.0);
}
/// Implement some methods on the `Circle`.
///
/// This lets use demonstrate both how methods work in general and specifically
/// how they interact with the idea of ownership.
impl Circle {
/// Creates a `Circle` instance centered on the "origin" (x = 0, y = 0).
fn origin(r: f64) -> Circle {
Circle { x: 0.0, y: 0.0, r }
}
/// Creates a `Circle` instance centered on specified x, y values.
pub fn new(x: f64, y: f64, r: f64) -> Circle {
Circle { x, y, r }
}
/// Returns the value of `Circle.x`, borrowing an immutable reference to
/// the circle to do it.
///
/// Because the reference is immutable, if you tried to do this---
///
/// ```ignore
/// self.x = 10;
/// ```
///
/// ---the compiler would not allow it.
pub fn x_by_ref(&self) -> f64 {
println!("Taking a reference.");
// The reference is immutable.
self.x
}
/// Returns the value of `Circle.x`, borrowing a mutable reference to the
/// circle and changing the value (demonstrating a situation in which you
/// would want to use a mutable rather than immutable reference).
pub fn x_by_mut_ref(&mut self) -> f64 {
println!("Taking a mutable reference.");
self.x += 1.0;
self.x
}
/// Returns the value of `Circle.x`, taking ownership of the circle. As a
/// result of the change in ownership, the circle goes out of scope after
/// the method returns, so the circle instance will be inaccessible after
/// that.
///
/// Note that the item is taken as immutable, so attempting to change the
/// internals will still fail. **Ownership is orthogonal to immutability.**
pub fn by_take(self) -> f64 {
println!("Taking ownership, not just borrowing a reference. INTENSE.");
self.x
}
/// Returns the value of `Circle.x`, taking ownership of a mutable circle.
pub fn by_take_mut(mut self) -> f64 {
println!("Taking ownership *and* mutating all the things.");
self.x += 14.0;
self.x
}
}
/// Demonstrates how the same concepts apply when dealing with methods.
pub fn demonstrate_method_ownership() {
// There are several ways to construct struct types. The first is a plain
// struct constructor.
let basic = Circle {
x: 1.0,
y: 2.0,
r: 5.0,
};
// The next is using a constructor.
let mut mutable = Circle::new(14.0, 12.0, 10.0);
// Constructors can have default behavior, like this one.
let immutable = Circle::origin(12.0);
println!("{:?}", basic);
println!("{:?}", immutable);
println!("{:?}", mutable);
// Now we can see how different method calls work. When we borrow a
// reference, there is no consequence: during the life of the method, the
// immutable object is "borrowed" by the `x_by_ref` method. Ownership returns
// to the `main` function when it returns.
let by_ref_x = immutable.x_by_ref();
println!("By reference: {}", by_ref_x);
// The same is true of a method that borrows a mutable reference. Note,
// however, that since the reference is mutable, it can change the contents
// of the struct.
print!("Original x_by_mut_ref x value: {}... ", mutable.x);
let by_mut_ref_x = mutable.x_by_mut_ref();
println!("After calling `x_by_mut_ref`: {}", by_mut_ref_x);
// Note that both of these struct instances are still available for `main`
// to use once they return from the method call:
println!(
"immutable's y: {} | mutable's r: {}",
immutable.y, mutable.r
);
// A method that takes ownership can still return a value. However, it has
// a very different behavior in terms of the struct instance, in a way that
// seems surprising compared to languages without the concept of "borrowing"
// vs. "taking" (C, Java, Python, etc.).
//
// Run a method that takes ownership rather than just borrowing a reference.
// The value returned is as expected. However, the item has been *moved*,
// not just borrowed. That is, `main` no longer owns it---`by_take` took
// over the ownership. Once `by_take` ended, `immutable` actually gets
// deconstructed ("dropped") because it went out of scope. As a result, the
// following line won't compile (you can uncomment it to see for yourself):
let by_take_x = immutable.by_take();
println!("By take: {}", by_take_x);
// println!("Does the circle still exist? {:?}", immutable);
// Likewise, if we use the mutable circle with the method which takes
// ownership and mutates it, we can get the value back as before, but the
// circle will have been dropped when the `by_take_mut` call ended.
let by_mut_take_x = mutable.by_take_mut();
println!("By mutable take: {}", by_mut_take_x);
// println!("Does the mutable circle still exist? {:?}", mutable);
}