TRPL: mutability

Author: steveklabnik

src/doc/trpl/mutability.md

@@ -1,3 +1,177 @@
 % Mutability
 
-Coming Soon
+Mutability, the ability to change something, works a bit differently in Rust
+than in other languages. The first aspect of mutability is its non-defualt
+status:
+
+```rust,ignore
+let x = 5;
+x = 6; // error!
+```
+
+We can introduce mutability with the `mut` keyword:
+
+```rust
+let mut x = 5;
+
+x = 6; // no problem!
+```
+
+This is a mutable [variable binding][vb]. When a binding is mutable, it means
+you’re allowed to change what the binding points to. So in the above example,
+it’s not so much that the value at `x` is changing, but that the binding
+changed from one `i32` to another.
+
+[vb]: variable-bindings.html
+
+If you want to change what the binding points to, you’ll need a [mutable reference][mr]:
+
+```rust
+let mut x = 5;
+let y = &mut x;
+```
+
+[mr]: references-and-borrowing.html
+
+`y` is an immutable binding to a mutable reference, which means that you can’t
+bind `y` to something else, but you can mutate the thing that’s bound to `y`. A
+subtle distinction.
+
+Of course, if you need both:
+
+```rust
+let mut x = 5;
+let mut y = &mut x;
+```
+
+Now `y` can be bound to another value, and the value it’s bound to can be
+changed.
+
+It’s important to note that `mut` is part of a [pattern][pattern], so you
+can do things like this:
+
+```rust
+let (mut x, y) = (5, 6);
+
+fn foo(mut x: i32) {
+# }
+```
+
+[pattern]: patterns.html
+
+# Interior vs. Exterior Mutability
+
+However, when we say something is ‘immutable’ in Rust, that doesn’t mean that
+it’s not able to be changed. We mean something has ‘exterior mutability’. Consider,
+for example, [`Arc<T>`][arc]:
+
+```rust
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+let x = Arc::new(5);
+let y = x.clone();
+```
+
+[arc]: ../std/sync/struct.Arc.html
+
+When we call `clone()`, the `Arc<T>` needs to update the reference count. Yet
+we’ve not used any `mut`s here, `x` is an immutable binding, and we didn’t take
+`&mut 5` or anything. So what gives?
+
+To this, we have to go back to the core of Rust’s guiding philosophy, memory
+safety, and the mechanism by which Rust guarantees it, the
+[ownership][ownership] system. Mutability and immutability play a role. You
+may, at any given time, have N immutable borrows, or a single mutable borrow.
+
+[ownership]: ownership.html
+
+So, that’s the real definition of ‘immutability’: is this safe to have two
+pointers to? In `Arc<T>`’s case, yes: the mutation is entirely contained inside
+the structure itself. It’s not user facing. For this reason, it hands out `&T`
+with `clone()`. If it handed out `&mut T`s, though, that would be a problem.
+
+Other types, like the ones in the [`std::cell`][stdcell] module, have the
+opposite: interior mutability. For example:
+
+```rust
+use std::cell::RefCell;
+
+let x = RefCell::new(42);
+
+let y = x.borrow_mut();
+```
+
+[stdcell]: ../std/cell/index.html
+
+RefCell hands out `&mut` references to what’s inside of it with the
+`borrow_mut()` method. Isn’t that dangerous? What if we do:
+
+```rust,ignore
+use std::cell::RefCell;
+
+let x = RefCell::new(42);
+
+let y = x.borrow_mut();
+let z = x.borrow_mut();
+# (y, z);
+```
+
+This will in fact panic, at runtime. This is what `RefCell` does: it enforces
+Rust’s borrowing rules at runtime, and `panic!`s if they’re violated. This
+allows us to get around another aspect of Rust’s mutability rules. Let’s talk
+about it first.
+
+## Field-level mutability
+
+Mutabilty is a property of either a borrow (`&mut`) or a binding (`let mut`).
+This means that, for example, you cannot have a [`struct`][struct] with
+some fields mutable and some immutable:
+
+```rust,ignore
+struct Point {
+    x: i32,
+    mut y: i32, // nope
+}
+```
+
+The mutability of a struct is in its binding:
+
+```rust,ignore
+struct Point {
+    x: i32,
+    y: i32,
+}
+
+let mut a = Point { x: 5, y: 6 };
+
+a.x = 10;
+
+let b = Point { x: 5, y: 6};
+
+b.x = 10; // error: cannot assign to immutable field `b.x`
+```
+
+[struct]: structs.html
+
+
+However, by using `RefCell<T>`, you can emulate field-level mutability:
+
+```
+use std::cell::RefCell;
+
+struct Point {
+    x: i32,
+    y: RefCell<i32>,
+}
+
+let mut point = Point { x: 5, y: RefCell::new(6) };
+
+{
+    let mut y = point.y.borrow_mut();
+    *y += 1;
+}
+
+println!("y: {:?}", point.y);
+```
+
+This will print `y: RefCell { value: 7 }`. We’ve successfully updated `y`.