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1 | 1 | % Universal Function Call Syntax
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2 | 2 |
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3 |
| -Coming soon |
| 3 | +Sometimes, functions can have the same names. Consider this code: |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +```rust |
| 6 | +trait Foo { |
| 7 | + fn f(&self); |
| 8 | +} |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +trait Bar { |
| 11 | + fn f(&self); |
| 12 | +} |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +struct Baz; |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +impl Foo for Baz { |
| 17 | + fn f(&self) { println!("Baz’s impl of Foo"); } |
| 18 | +} |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +impl Bar for Baz { |
| 21 | + fn f(&self) { println!("Baz’s impl of Bar"); } |
| 22 | +} |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +let b = Baz; |
| 25 | +``` |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +If we were to try to call `b.f()`, we’d get an error: |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +```text |
| 30 | +error: multiple applicable methods in scope [E0034] |
| 31 | +b.f(); |
| 32 | + ^~~ |
| 33 | +note: candidate #1 is defined in an impl of the trait `main::Foo` for the type |
| 34 | +`main::Baz` |
| 35 | + fn f(&self) { println!("Baz’s impl of Foo"); } |
| 36 | + ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| 37 | +note: candidate #2 is defined in an impl of the trait `main::Bar` for the type |
| 38 | +`main::Baz` |
| 39 | + fn f(&self) { println!("Baz’s impl of Bar"); } |
| 40 | + ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| 41 | +
|
| 42 | +``` |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +We need a way to disambiguate which method we need. This feature is called |
| 45 | +‘universal function call syntax’, and it looks like this: |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +```rust |
| 48 | +# trait Foo { |
| 49 | +# fn f(&self); |
| 50 | +# } |
| 51 | +# trait Bar { |
| 52 | +# fn f(&self); |
| 53 | +# } |
| 54 | +# struct Baz; |
| 55 | +# impl Foo for Baz { |
| 56 | +# fn f(&self) { println!("Baz’s impl of Foo"); } |
| 57 | +# } |
| 58 | +# impl Bar for Baz { |
| 59 | +# fn f(&self) { println!("Baz’s impl of Bar"); } |
| 60 | +# } |
| 61 | +# let b = Baz; |
| 62 | +Foo::f(&b); |
| 63 | +Bar::f(&b); |
| 64 | +``` |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +Let’s break it down. |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | +```rust,ignore |
| 69 | +Foo:: |
| 70 | +Bar:: |
| 71 | +``` |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | +These halves of the invocation are the types of the two traits: `Foo` and |
| 74 | +`Bar`. This is what ends up actually doing the disambiguation between the two: |
| 75 | +Rust calls the one from the trait name you use. |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +```rust,ignore |
| 78 | +f(&b) |
| 79 | +``` |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +When we call a method like `b.f()` using [method syntax][methodsyntax], Rust |
| 82 | +will automatically borrow `b` if `f()` takes `&self`. In this case, Rust will |
| 83 | +not, and so we need to pass an explicit `&b`. |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +[methodsyntax]: method-syntax.html |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +# Angle-bracket Form |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +The form of UFCS we just talked about: |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | +```rust,ignore |
| 92 | +Type::method(args); |
| 93 | +``` |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | +Is a short-hand. There’s an expanded form of this that’s needed in some |
| 96 | +situations: |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +```rust,ignore |
| 99 | +<Type as Trait>::method(args); |
| 100 | +``` |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +The `<>::` syntax is a means of providing a type hint. The type goes inside |
| 103 | +the `<>`s. In this case, the type is `Type as Trait`, indicating that we want |
| 104 | +`Trait`’s version of `method` to be called here. The `as Trait` part is |
| 105 | +optional if it’s not ambiguous. Same with the angle brackets, hence the |
| 106 | +shorter form. |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +Here’s an example of using the longer form. |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | +```rust |
| 111 | +trait Foo { |
| 112 | + fn clone(&self); |
| 113 | +} |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +#[derive(Clone)] |
| 116 | +struct Bar; |
| 117 | + |
| 118 | +impl Foo for Bar { |
| 119 | + fn clone(&self) { |
| 120 | + println!("Making a clone of Bar"); |
| 121 | + |
| 122 | + <Bar as Clone>::clone(self); |
| 123 | + } |
| 124 | +} |
| 125 | +``` |
| 126 | + |
| 127 | +This will call the `Clone` trait’s `clone()` method, rather than `Foo`’s. |
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