| The Rust standard library provides a rich set of fundamental data types including primitive types (integers, floats, booleans, characters), compound types (tuples, arrays, slices), collections (vectors, strings, hash maps, sets), smart pointers (Box, Rc, Arc), I/O primitives (files, streams), and concurrency features (threads, channels, mutexes), along with numerous traits defining common operations and behavior for these types. These types are designed for performance, safety, and ease of use, forming the bedrock of most Rust programs.
Some of these include: - growable
Strings like: "hello world" - growable vectors:
[1, 2, 3] - optional types:
Option<i32> - error handling types:
Result<i32, i32> - heap allocated pointers:
Box<i32>
Box, stack and heapAll values in Rust are stack allocated by default. Values can be boxed (allocated on the heap) by creating a Box<T>. A box is a smart pointer to a heap allocated value of type T. When a box goes out of scope, its destructor is called, the inner object is destroyed, and the memory on the heap is freed. Boxed values can be dereferenced using the * operator; this removes one layer of indirection. use std::mem;
#[allow(dead_code)]
#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
struct Point {
x: f64,
y: f64,
}
// A Rectangle can be specified by where its top left and bottom right
// corners are in space
#[allow(dead_code)]
struct Rectangle {
top_left: Point,
bottom_right: Point,
}
fn origin() -> Point {
Point { x: 0.0, y: 0.0 }
}
fn boxed_origin() -> Box<Point> {
// Allocate this point on the heap, and return a pointer to it
Box::new(Point { x: 0.0, y: 0.0 })
}
fn main() {
// (all the type annotations are superfluous)
// Stack allocated variables
let point: Point = origin();
let rectangle: Rectangle = Rectangle {
top_left: origin(),
bottom_right: Point { x: 3.0, y: -4.0 }
};
// Heap allocated rectangle
let boxed_rectangle: Box<Rectangle> = Box::new(Rectangle {
top_left: origin(),
bottom_right: Point { x: 3.0, y: -4.0 },
});
// The output of functions can be boxed
let boxed_point: Box<Point> = Box::new(origin());
// Double indirection
let box_in_a_box: Box<Box<Point>> = Box::new(boxed_origin());
println!("Point occupies {} bytes on the stack",
mem::size_of_val(&point));
println!("Rectangle occupies {} bytes on the stack",
mem::size_of_val(&rectangle));
// box size == pointer size
println!("Boxed point occupies {} bytes on the stack",
mem::size_of_val(&boxed_point));
println!("Boxed rectangle occupies {} bytes on the stack",
mem::size_of_val(&boxed_rectangle));
println!("Boxed box occupies {} bytes on the stack",
mem::size_of_val(&box_in_a_box));
// Copy the data contained in `boxed_point` into `unboxed_point`
let unboxed_point: Point = *boxed_point;
println!("Unboxed point occupies {} bytes on the stack",
mem::size_of_val(&unboxed_point));
}
VectorsVectors are re-sizable arrays. Like slices, their size is not known at compile time, but they can grow or shrink at any time. A vector is represented using 3 parameters: - pointer to the data
- length
- capacity
The capacity indicates how much memory is reserved for the vector. The vector can grow as long as the length is smaller than the capacity. When this threshold needs to be surpassed, the vector is reallocated with a larger capacity. fn main() {
// Iterators can be collected into vectors
let collected_iterator: Vec<i32> = (0..10).collect();
println!("Collected (0..10) into: {:?}", collected_iterator);
// The `vec!` macro can be used to initialize a vector
let mut xs = vec![1i32, 2, 3];
println!("Initial vector: {:?}", xs);
// Insert new element at the end of the vector
println!("Push 4 into the vector");
xs.push(4);
println!("Vector: {:?}", xs);
// Error! Immutable vectors can't grow
collected_iterator.push(0);
// FIXME ^ Comment out this line
// The `len` method yields the number of elements currently stored in a vector
println!("Vector length: {}", xs.len());
// Indexing is done using the square brackets (indexing starts at 0)
println!("Second element: {}", xs[1]);
// `pop` removes the last element from the vector and returns it
println!("Pop last element: {:?}", xs.pop());
// Out of bounds indexing yields a panic
println!("Fourth element: {}", xs[3]);
// FIXME ^ Comment out this line
// `Vector`s can be easily iterated over
println!("Contents of xs:");
for x in xs.iter() {
println!("> {}", x);
}
// A `Vector` can also be iterated over while the iteration
// count is enumerated in a separate variable (`i`)
for (i, x) in xs.iter().enumerate() {
println!("In position {} we have value {}", i, x);
}
// Thanks to `iter_mut`, mutable `Vector`s can also be iterated
// over in a way that allows modifying each value
for x in xs.iter_mut() {
*x *= 3;
}
println!("Updated vector: {:?}", xs);
}
StringsThe two most used string types in Rust are String and &str. A String is stored as a vector of bytes (Vec<u8>), but guaranteed to always be a valid UTF-8 sequence. String is heap allocated, growable and not null terminated. &str is a slice (&[u8]) that always points to a valid UTF-8 sequence, and can be used to view into a String, just like &[T] is a view into Vec<T>.
fn main() {
// (all the type annotations are superfluous)
// A reference to a string allocated in read only memory
let pangram: &'static str = "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog";
println!("Pangram: {}", pangram);
// Iterate over words in reverse, no new string is allocated
println!("Words in reverse");
for word in pangram.split_whitespace().rev() {
println!("> {}", word);
}
// Copy chars into a vector, sort and remove duplicates
let mut chars: Vec<char> = pangram.chars().collect();
chars.sort();
chars.dedup();
// Create an empty and growable `String`
let mut string = String::new();
for c in chars {
// Insert a char at the end of string
string.push(c);
// Insert a string at the end of string
string.push_str(", ");
}
// The trimmed string is a slice to the original string, hence no new
// allocation is performed
let chars_to_trim: &[char] = &[' ', ','];
let trimmed_str: &str = string.trim_matches(chars_to_trim);
println!("Used characters: {}", trimmed_str);
// Heap allocate a string
let alice = String::from("I like dogs");
// Allocate new memory and store the modified string there
let bob: String = alice.replace("dog", "cat");
println!("Alice says: {}", alice);
println!("Bob says: {}", bob);
}
Option
Sometimes it's desirable to catch the failure of some parts of a program instead of calling panic!; this can be accomplished using the Option enum. The Option<T> enum has two variants: None, to indicate failure or lack of value, andSome(value), a tuple struct that wraps a value with type T.
// An integer division that doesn't `panic!`
fn checked_division(dividend: i32, divisor: i32) -> Option<i32> {
if divisor == 0 {
// Failure is represented as the `None` variant
None
} else {
// Result is wrapped in a `Some` variant
Some(dividend / divisor)
}
}
// This function handles a division that may not succeed
fn try_division(dividend: i32, divisor: i32) {
// `Option` values can be pattern matched, just like other enums
match checked_division(dividend, divisor) {
None => println!("{} / {} failed!", dividend, divisor),
Some(quotient) => {
println!("{} / {} = {}", dividend, divisor, quotient)
},
}
}
fn main() {
try_division(4, 2);
try_division(1, 0);
// Binding `None` to a variable needs to be type annotated
let none: Option<i32> = None;
let _equivalent_none = None::<i32>;
let optional_float = Some(0f32);
// Unwrapping a `Some` variant will extract the value wrapped.
println!("{:?} unwraps to {:?}", optional_float, optional_float.unwrap());
// Unwrapping a `None` variant will `panic!`
println!("{:?} unwraps to {:?}", none, none.unwrap());
}
Result
We've seen that the Option enum can be used as a return value from functions that may fail, where None can be returned to indicate failure. However, sometimes it is important to express why an operation failed. To do this we have the Result enum. The Result<T, E> enum has two variants: Ok(value) which indicates that the operation succeeded, and wraps the value returned by the operation. (value has type T)Err(why), which indicates that the operation failed, and wraps why, which (hopefully) explains the cause of the failure. (why has type E)
mod checked {
// Mathematical "errors" we want to catch
#[derive(Debug)]
pub enum MathError {
DivisionByZero,
NonPositiveLogarithm,
NegativeSquareRoot,
}
pub type MathResult = Result<f64, MathError>;
pub fn div(x: f64, y: f64) -> MathResult {
if y == 0.0 {
// This operation would `fail`, instead let's return the reason of
// the failure wrapped in `Err`
Err(MathError::DivisionByZero)
} else {
// This operation is valid, return the result wrapped in `Ok`
Ok(x / y)
}
}
pub fn sqrt(x: f64) -> MathResult {
if x < 0.0 {
Err(MathError::NegativeSquareRoot)
} else {
Ok(x.sqrt())
}
}
pub fn ln(x: f64) -> MathResult {
if x <= 0.0 {
Err(MathError::NonPositiveLogarithm)
} else {
Ok(x.ln())
}
}
}
// `op(x, y)` === `sqrt(ln(x / y))`
fn op(x: f64, y: f64) -> f64 {
// This is a three level match pyramid!
match checked::div(x, y) {
Err(why) => panic!("{:?}", why),
Ok(ratio) => match checked::ln(ratio) {
Err(why) => panic!("{:?}", why),
Ok(ln) => match checked::sqrt(ln) {
Err(why) => panic!("{:?}", why),
Ok(sqrt) => sqrt,
},
},
}
}
fn main() {
// Will this fail?
println!("{}", op(1.0, 10.0));
}
?
Chaining results using match can get pretty untidy; luckily, the ? operator can be used to make things pretty again. ? is used at the end of an expression returning a Result, and is equivalent to a match expression, where the Err(err) branch expands to an early return Err(From::from(err)), and the Ok(ok) branch expands to an ok expression. mod checked {
#[derive(Debug)]
enum MathError {
DivisionByZero,
NonPositiveLogarithm,
NegativeSquareRoot,
}
type MathResult = Result<f64, MathError>;
fn div(x: f64, y: f64) -> MathResult {
if y == 0.0 {
Err(MathError::DivisionByZero)
} else {
Ok(x / y)
}
}
fn sqrt(x: f64) -> MathResult {
if x < 0.0 {
Err(MathError::NegativeSquareRoot)
} else {
Ok(x.sqrt())
}
}
fn ln(x: f64) -> MathResult {
if x <= 0.0 {
Err(MathError::NonPositiveLogarithm)
} else {
Ok(x.ln())
}
}
// Intermediate function
fn op_(x: f64, y: f64) -> MathResult {
// if `div` "fails", then `DivisionByZero` will be `return`ed
let ratio = div(x, y)?;
// if `ln` "fails", then `NonPositiveLogarithm` will be `return`ed
let ln = ln(ratio)?;
sqrt(ln)
}
pub fn op(x: f64, y: f64) {
match op_(x, y) {
Err(why) => panic!("{}", match why {
MathError::NonPositiveLogarithm
=> "logarithm of non-positive number",
MathError::DivisionByZero
=> "division by zero",
MathError::NegativeSquareRoot
=> "square root of negative number",
}),
Ok(value) => println!("{}", value),
}
}
}
fn main() {
checked::op(1.0, 10.0);
}
Be sure to check the documentation, as there are many methods to map/compose Result.
panic!
The panic! macro can be used to generate a panic and start unwinding its stack. While unwinding, the runtime will take care of freeing all the resources owned by the thread by calling the destructor of all its objects. Since we are dealing with programs with only one thread, panic! will cause the program to report the panic message and exit. // Re-implementation of integer division (/)
fn division(dividend: i32, divisor: i32) -> i32 {
if divisor == 0 {
// Division by zero triggers a panic
panic!("division by zero");
} else {
dividend / divisor
}
}
// The `main` task
fn main() {
// Heap allocated integer
let _x = Box::new(0i32);
// This operation will trigger a task failure
division(3, 0);
println!("This point won't be reached!");
// `_x` should get destroyed at this point
}
Let's check that panic! doesn't leak memory. $ rustc panic.rs && valgrind ./panic
==4401== Memcheck, a memory error detector
==4401== Copyright (C) 2002-2013, and GNU GPL'd, by Julian Seward et al.
==4401== Using Valgrind-3.10.0.SVN and LibVEX; rerun with -h for copyright info
==4401== Command: ./panic
==4401==
thread '<main>' panicked at 'division by zero', panic.rs:5
==4401==
==4401== HEAP SUMMARY:
==4401== in use at exit: 0 bytes in 0 blocks
==4401== total heap usage: 18 allocs, 18 frees, 1,648 bytes allocated
==4401==
==4401== All heap blocks were freed -- no leaks are possible
==4401==
==4401== For counts of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -v
==4401== ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed: 0 from 0)
HashMapWhere vectors store values by an integer index, HashMaps store values by key. HashMap keys can be booleans, integers, strings, or any other type that implements the Eq and Hash traits. More on this in the next section. Like vectors, HashMaps are growable, but HashMaps can also shrink themselves when they have excess space. You can create a HashMap with a certain starting capacity using HashMap::with_capacity(uint), or use HashMap::new() to get a HashMap with a default initial capacity (recommended). use std::collections::HashMap;
fn call(number: &str) -> &str {
match number {
"798-1364" => "We're sorry, the call cannot be completed as dialed.
Please hang up and try again.",
"645-7689" => "Hello, this is Mr. Awesome's Pizza. My name is Fred.
What can I get for you today?",
_ => "Hi! Who is this again?"
}
}
fn main() {
let mut contacts = HashMap::new();
contacts.insert("Daniel", "798-1364");
contacts.insert("Ashley", "645-7689");
contacts.insert("Katie", "435-8291");
contacts.insert("Robert", "956-1745");
// Takes a reference and returns Option<&V>
match contacts.get(&"Daniel") {
Some(&number) => println!("Calling Daniel: {}", call(number)),
_ => println!("Don't have Daniel's number."),
}
// `HashMap::insert()` returns `None`
// if the inserted value is new, `Some(value)` otherwise
contacts.insert("Daniel", "164-6743");
match contacts.get(&"Ashley") {
Some(&number) => println!("Calling Ashley: {}", call(number)),
_ => println!("Don't have Ashley's number."),
}
contacts.remove(&"Ashley");
// `HashMap::iter()` returns an iterator that yields
// (&'a key, &'a value) pairs in arbitrary order.
for (contact, &number) in contacts.iter() {
println!("Calling {}: {}", contact, call(number));
}
}
For more information on how hashing and hash maps (sometimes called hash tables) work, have a look at Hash Table Wikipedia Alternate/custom key typesAny type that implements the Eq and Hash traits can be a key in HashMap. This includes: bool (though not very useful since there are only two possible keys)int, uint, and all variations thereofString and &str (protip: you can have a HashMap keyed by String and call .get() with an &str)
Note that f32 and f64 do not implement Hash, likely because floating-point precision errors would make using them as hashmap keys horribly error-prone. All collection classes implement Eq and Hash if their contained type also respectively implements Eq and Hash. For example, Vec<T> will implement Hash if T implements Hash. You can easily implement Eq and Hash for a custom type with just one line: #[derive(PartialEq, Eq, Hash)] The compiler will do the rest. If you want more control over the details, you can implement Eq and/or Hash yourself. This guide will not cover the specifics of implementing Hash. To play around with using a struct in HashMap, let's try making a very simple user logon system: use std::collections::HashMap;
// Eq requires that you derive PartialEq on the type.
#[derive(PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
struct Account<'a>{
username: &'a str,
password: &'a str,
}
struct AccountInfo<'a>{
name: &'a str,
email: &'a str,
}
type Accounts<'a> = HashMap<Account<'a>, AccountInfo<'a>>;
fn try_logon<'a>(accounts: &Accounts<'a>,
username: &'a str, password: &'a str){
println!("Username: {}", username);
println!("Password: {}", password);
println!("Attempting logon...");
let logon = Account {
username,
password,
};
match accounts.get(&logon) {
Some(account_info) => {
println!("Successful logon!");
println!("Name: {}", account_info.name);
println!("Email: {}", account_info.email);
},
_ => println!("Login failed!"),
}
}
fn main(){
let mut accounts: Accounts = HashMap::new();
let account = Account {
username: "j.everyman",
password: "password123",
};
let account_info = AccountInfo {
name: "John Everyman",
email: "j.everyman@email.com",
};
accounts.insert(account, account_info);
try_logon(&accounts, "j.everyman", "psasword123");
try_logon(&accounts, "j.everyman", "password123");
}
HashSetConsider a HashSet as a HashMap where we just care about the keys ( HashSet<T> is, in actuality, just a wrapper around HashMap<T, ()>). "What's the point of that?" you ask. "I could just store the keys in a Vec." A HashSet's unique feature is that it is guaranteed to not have duplicate elements. That's the contract that any set collection fulfills. HashSet is just one implementation. (see also: BTreeSet) If you insert a value that is already present in the HashSet, (i.e. the new value is equal to the existing and they both have the same hash), then the new value will replace the old. This is great for when you never want more than one of something, or when you want to know if you've already got something. But sets can do more than that. Sets have 4 primary operations (all of the following calls return an iterator): union: get all the unique elements in both sets.difference: get all the elements that are in the first set but not the second.intersection: get all the elements that are only in both sets.symmetric_difference: get all the elements that are in one set or the other, but not both.
Try all of these in the following example: use std::collections::HashSet;
fn main() {
let mut a: HashSet<i32> = vec![1i32, 2, 3].into_iter().collect();
let mut b: HashSet<i32> = vec![2i32, 3, 4].into_iter().collect();
assert!(a.insert(4));
assert!(a.contains(&4));
// `HashSet::insert()` returns false if
// there was a value already present.
assert!(b.insert(4), "Value 4 is already in set B!");
// FIXME ^ Comment out this line
b.insert(5);
// If a collection's element type implements `Debug`,
// then the collection implements `Debug`.
// It usually prints its elements in the format `[elem1, elem2, ...]`
println!("A: {:?}", a);
println!("B: {:?}", b);
// Print [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] in arbitrary order
println!("Union: {:?}", a.union(&b).collect::<Vec<&i32>>());
// This should print [1]
println!("Difference: {:?}", a.difference(&b).collect::<Vec<&i32>>());
// Print [2, 3, 4] in arbitrary order.
println!("Intersection: {:?}", a.intersection(&b).collect::<Vec<&i32>>());
// Print [1, 5]
println!("Symmetric Difference: {:?}",
a.symmetric_difference(&b).collect::<Vec<&i32>>());
}
Rc
When multiple ownership is needed, Rc(Reference Counting) can be used. Rc keeps track of the number of the references which means the number of owners of the value wrapped inside an Rc. Reference count of an Rc increases by 1 whenever an Rc is cloned, and decreases by 1 whenever one cloned Rc is dropped out of the scope. When an Rc's reference count becomes zero (which means there are no remaining owners), both the Rc and the value are all dropped. Cloning an Rc never performs a deep copy. Cloning creates just another pointer to the wrapped value, and increments the count. use std::rc::Rc;
fn main() {
let rc_examples = "Rc examples".to_string();
{
println!("--- rc_a is created ---");
let rc_a: Rc<String> = Rc::new(rc_examples);
println!("Reference Count of rc_a: {}", Rc::strong_count(&rc_a));
{
println!("--- rc_a is cloned to rc_b ---");
let rc_b: Rc<String> = Rc::clone(&rc_a);
println!("Reference Count of rc_b: {}", Rc::strong_count(&rc_b));
println!("Reference Count of rc_a: {}", Rc::strong_count(&rc_a));
// Two `Rc`s are equal if their inner values are equal
println!("rc_a and rc_b are equal: {}", rc_a.eq(&rc_b));
// We can use methods of a value directly
println!("Length of the value inside rc_a: {}", rc_a.len());
println!("Value of rc_b: {}", rc_b);
println!("--- rc_b is dropped out of scope ---");
}
println!("Reference Count of rc_a: {}", Rc::strong_count(&rc_a));
println!("--- rc_a is dropped out of scope ---");
}
// Error! `rc_examples` already moved into `rc_a`
// And when `rc_a` is dropped, `rc_examples` is dropped together
// println!("rc_examples: {}", rc_examples);
// TODO ^ Try uncommenting this line
}
ArcWhen shared ownership between threads is needed, Arc(Atomically Reference Counted) can be used. This struct, via the Clone implementation can create a reference pointer for the location of a value in the memory heap while increasing the reference counter. As it shares ownership between threads, when the last reference pointer to a value is out of scope, the variable is dropped.
use std::time::Duration;
use std::sync::Arc;
use std::thread;
fn main() {
// This variable declaration is where its value is specified.
let apple = Arc::new("the same apple");
for _ in 0..10 {
// Here there is no value specification as it is a pointer to a
// reference in the memory heap.
let apple = Arc::clone(&apple);
thread::spawn(move || {
// As Arc was used, threads can be spawned using the value allocated
// in the Arc variable pointer's location.
println!("{:?}", apple);
});
}
// Make sure all Arc instances are printed from spawned threads.
thread::sleep(Duration::from_secs(1));
}
|
