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Flesh out struct keyword docs

The whole keyword docs thing is pretty new in Rust's history and needs
some work before it's a shining gem. Here's hoping I can provide that.

I basically shoved in a bunch of the most important information from the
reference and the book, along with leaving links to both at the end. I
don't think keyword docs need to have complete detail, just all the
broad strokes, so if someone's confused about a usage of a keyword they
can look at the std documentation for that keyword.
This commit is contained in:
iirelu 2018-09-03 16:25:51 +02:00
parent f3bb23191c
commit 047aac5cc6

View file

@ -59,21 +59,109 @@ mod let_keyword { }
#[doc(keyword = "struct")]
//
/// The `struct` keyword.
/// The keyword used to define structs.
///
/// The `struct` keyword is used to define a struct type.
/// Structs in Rust come in three flavours: Regular structs, tuple structs,
/// and empty structs.
///
/// Example:
///
/// ```
/// struct Foo {
/// field1: u32,
/// ```rust
/// struct Regular {
/// field1: f32,
/// field2: String,
/// pub field3: bool
/// }
///
/// struct Tuple(u32, String);
///
/// struct Empty;
/// ```
///
/// Regular structs are the most commonly used. Each field defined within them has a name and a
/// type, and once defined can be accessed using `example_struct.field` syntax. The fields of a
/// struct share its mutability, so `foo.bar = 2;` would only be valid if `foo` was mutable. Adding
/// `pub` to a field makes it visible to code in other modules, as well as allowing it to be
/// directly accessed and modified.
///
/// Tuple structs are similar to regular structs, but its fields have no names. They are used like
/// tuples, with deconstruction possible via `let TupleStruct(x, y) = foo;` syntax. For accessing
/// individual variables, the same syntax is used as with regular tuples, namely `foo.0`, `foo.1`,
/// etc, starting at zero.
///
/// Empty structs, or unit-like structs, are most commonly used as markers, for example
/// [`PhantomData`]. Empty structs have a size of zero bytes, but unlike empty enums they can be
/// instantiated, making them similar to the unit type `()`. Unit-like structs are useful when you
/// need to implement a trait on something, but don't need to store any data inside it.
///
/// # Instantiation
///
/// Structs can be instantiated in a manner of different ways, each of which can be mixed and
/// matched as needed. The most common way to make a new struct is via a constructor method such as
/// `new()`, but when that isn't available (or you're writing the constructor itself), struct
/// literal syntax is used:
///
/// ```rust
/// # struct Foo { field1: f32, field2: String, etc: bool }
/// let example = Foo {
/// field1: 42.0,
/// field2: "blah".to_string(),
/// etc: true,
/// };
/// ```
///
/// It's only possible to directly instantiate a struct using struct literal syntax when all of its
/// fields are visible to you.
///
/// There are a handful of shortcuts provided to make writing constructors more convenient, most
/// common of which is the Field Init shorthand. When there is a variable and a field of the same
/// name, the assignment can be simplified from `field: field` into simply `field`. The following
/// example of a hypothetical constructor demonstrates this:
///
/// ```rust
/// struct User {
/// name: String,
/// admin: bool,
/// }
///
/// impl User {
/// pub fn new(name: String) -> Self {
/// Self {
/// name,
/// admin: false,
/// }
/// }
/// }
/// ```
///
/// There are different kinds of structs. For more information, take a look at the
/// [Rust Book][book].
/// Another shortcut for struct instantiation is available when you need to make a new struct that
/// shares most of a previous struct's values called struct update syntax:
///
/// ```rust
/// # struct Foo { field1: String, field2: () }
/// # let thing = Foo { field1: "".to_string(), field2: () };
/// let updated_thing = Foo {
/// field1: "a new value".to_string(),
/// ..thing
/// };
/// ```
///
/// Tuple structs are instantiated in the same way as tuples themselves, except with the struct's
/// name as a prefix: `Foo(123, false, 0.1)`.
///
/// Empty structs are instantiated with just their name and nothing else. `let thing =
/// EmptyStruct;`
///
///
/// # Style conventions
///
/// Structs are always written in CamelCase, with few exceptions. While the trailing comma on a
/// struct's list of fields can be omitted, it's usually kept for convenience in adding and
/// removing fields down the line.
///
/// For more information on structs, take a look at the [Rust Book][book] or the
/// [Reference][reference].
///
/// [`PhantomData`]: marker/struct.PhantomData.html
/// [book]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/second-edition/ch05-01-defining-structs.html
/// [reference]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/reference/items/structs.html
mod struct_keyword { }