add post about the release of rust 1.41.0

posts/2020-01-30-Rust-1.41.0.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Announcing Rust 1.41.0"
+author: The Rust Release Team
+release: true
+---
+
+The Rust team is happy to announce a new version of Rust, 1.41.0. Rust is a
+programming language that is empowering everyone to build reliable and
+efficient software.
+
+If you have a previous version of Rust installed via rustup, getting Rust
+1.41.0 is as easy as:
+
+```console
+rustup update stable
+```
+
+If you don't have it already, you can [get `rustup`][install] from the
+appropriate page on our website, and check out the [detailed release notes for
+1.41.0][notes] on GitHub.
+
+[install]: https://www.rust-lang.org/install.html
+[notes]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/master/RELEASES.md#version-1410-2020-01-30
+
+## What's in 1.41.0 stable
+
+The highlights of Rust 1.41.0 include relaxed restrictions for trait
+implementations, improvements to `cargo install`, a more `git`-friendly
+`Cargo.lock`, and new FFI-related guarantees for `Box<T>`. See the [detailed
+release notes][notes] to learn about other changes not covered by this post.
+
+### Relaxed restrictions when implementing traits
+
+[book_orphan]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ch10-02-traits.html#implementing-a-trait-on-a-type
+[ref_orphan]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/reference/items/implementations.html#trait-implementation-coherence
+[book_newtype]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ch19-03-advanced-traits.html#using-the-newtype-pattern-to-implement-external-traits-on-external-types
+[report_orphan]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/63599
+[rfc_orphan]: https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/2451-re-rebalancing-coherence.html
+
+To prevent breakages in the ecosystem when a dependency adds a new trait
+`impl`, Rust enforces the [*orphan rule*][book_orphan]. The gist of it is that
+a trait `impl` is only allowed if either the trait or the type being
+implemented is *local* to (defined in) the current crate as opposed to a
+*foreign* crate. [What this means exactly][ref_orphan] is complicated, however,
+when generics are involved.
+
+Before Rust 1.41.0, the orphan rule was unnecessarily strict, getting in the
+way of composition. As an example, suppose your crate defines the
+`BetterVec<T>` struct, and you want a way to convert your struct to the
+standard library's `Vec<T>`. The code you would write is:
+
+```rust
+impl<T> From<BetterVec<T>> for Vec<T> {
+    // ...
+}
+```
+
+...which is an instance of the pattern:
+
+```rust
+impl<T> ForeignTrait<LocalType> for ForeignType<T> {
+    // ...
+}
+```
+
+In Rust 1.40.0 this `impl` was forbidden by the orphan rule, as both `From` and
+`Vec` are defined in the standard library, which is foreign to the current
+crate. There were ways to work around the limitation, such as [the *newtype*
+pattern][book_newtype], but they were often cumbersome or even impossible in
+some cases.
+
+While it's still true that both `From` and `Vec` were foreign, the trait (in
+this case `From`) was parameterized by a local type. Therefore, Rust 1.41.0
+allows this `impl`.
+
+For more details, read the [the stabilization report][report_orphan] and [the
+RFC proposing the change][rfc_orphan].
+
+### `cargo install` updates packages when outdated
+
+With `cargo install`, you can install binary crates in your system. The command
+is often used by the community to install popular CLI tools written in Rust.
+
+Starting from Rust 1.41.0, `cargo install` will also update existing
+installations of the crate if a new release came out since you installed it.
+Before this release the only option was to pass the `--force` flag, which
+reinstalls the binary crate even if it's up to date.
+
+### Less conflict-prone `Cargo.lock` format
+
+To ensure consistent builds, Cargo uses a file named `Cargo.lock`, containing
+dependency versions and checksums. Unfortunately, the way the data was arranged
+in it caused unnecessary merge conflicts when changing dependencies in separate
+branches.
+
+Rust 1.41.0 introduces a new format for the file, explicitly designed to avoid
+those conflicts. This new format will be used for all new lockfiles, while
+existing lockfiles will still rely on the previous format. You can learn about
+the choices leading to the new format [in the PR adding it][cargo/7070].
+
+[cargo/7070]: https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/pull/7070
+
+### More guarantees when using `Box<T>` in FFI
+
+[box_docs]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/boxed/index.html
+
+Starting with Rust 1.41.0, we have declared that a `Box<T>`, where `T: Sized`
+is now ABI compatible with the C language's pointer (`T*`) types. So if you
+have an `extern "C"` Rust function, called from C, your Rust function can now
+use `Box<T>`, for some specific `T`, while using `T*` in C for the
+corresponding function. As an example, on the C side you may have:
+
+```c
+// C header */
+
+// Returns ownership to the caller.
+struct Foo* foo_new(void);
+
+// Takes ownership from the caller; no-op when invoked with NULL.
+void foo_delete(struct Foo*);
+```
+
+...while on the Rust side, you would have:
+
+```rust
+#[repr(C)]
+pub struct Foo;
+
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern "C" fn foo_new() -> Box<Foo> {
+    Box::new(Foo)
+}
+
+// The possibility of NULL is represented with the `Option<_>`.
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern "C" fn foo_delete(_: Option<Box<Foo>>) {}
+```
+
+Note however that while `Box<T>` and `T*` have the same representation and ABI,
+a `Box<T>` must still be non-null, aligned, and ready for deallocation by the
+global allocator. To ensure this, it is best to only use `Box`es originating
+from the global allocator.
+
+**Important:** At least at present, you should avoid using `Box<T>` types for
+functions that are defined in C but invoked from Rust. In those cases, you
+should directly mirror the C types as closely as possible. Using types like
+`Box<T>` where the C definition is just using `T*` can lead to undefined
+behavior.
+
+To read more, [consult the documentation for `Box<T>`][box_docs].
+
+### Library changes
+
+[`Result::map_or`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/result/enum.Result.html#method.map_or
+[`Result::map_or_else`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/result/enum.Result.html#method.map_or_else
+[`Option::map_or`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/option/enum.Option.html#method.map_or
+[`Option::map_or_else`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/option/enum.Option.html#method.map_or_else
+[`std::rc::Weak::weak_count`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/rc/struct.Weak.html#method.weak_count
+[`std::rc::Weak::strong_count`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/rc/struct.Weak.html#method.strong_count
+[`std::sync::Weak::weak_count`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/sync/struct.Weak.html#method.weak_count
+[`std::sync::Weak::strong_count`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/sync/struct.Weak.html#method.strong_count
+[pr_66277]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/66277
+[pr_65013]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/65013
+
+In Rust 1.41.0, we've made the following additions to the standard library:
+
+- The [`Result::map_or`] and [`Result::map_or_else`] methods were stabilized.
+
+  Similar to [`Option::map_or`] and [`Option::map_or_else`], these methods are
+  shorthands for the `.map(|val| process(val)).unwrap_or(default)` pattern.
+
+- [`NonZero*` numerics now implement `From<NonZero*>` if it's a smaller integer
+  width.][pr_66277] For example, `NonZeroU16` now implements `From<NonZeroU8>`.
+
+- The `weak_count` and `strong_count` methods were stabilized.
+
+    - [`std::rc::Weak::weak_count`]
+    - [`std::rc::Weak::strong_count`]
+    - [`std::sync::Weak::weak_count`]
+    - [`std::sync::Weak::strong_count`]
+
+  These methods return the number of weak (`rc::Weak<T>` and `sync::Weak<T>`)
+  or strong (`Rc<T>` and `Arc<T>`) pointers to the allocation respectively.
+
+- [`MaybeUninit<T>` now implements `fmt::Debug`.][pr_65013]
+
+### Reducing support for 32-bit Apple targets soon
+
+Rust 1.41.0 is the last release with the current level of compiler support for
+32-bit Apple targets, including the `i686-apple-darwin` target. Starting from
+Rust 1.42.0, these targets will be demoted to the lowest support tier.
+
+[You can learn more about this change in this blog post.][32bit-demotion]
+
+[32bit-demotion]: https://blog.rust-lang.org/2020/01/03/reducing-support-for-32-bit-apple-targets.html
+
+### Other changes
+
+[relnotes-cargo]: https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#cargo-141-2020-01-30
+[relnotes-clippy]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-clippy/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#rust-141
+
+There are other changes in the Rust 1.41.0 release: check out what changed in
+[Rust][notes], [Cargo][relnotes-cargo], and [Clippy][relnotes-clippy]. We also
+have started landing MIR optimizations, which should improve compile times. For
+more, read [mir-opt].
+
+## Contributors to 1.41.0
+
+Many people came together to create Rust 1.41.0. We couldn't have done it
+without all of you. [Thanks!](https://thanks.rust-lang.org/rust/1.41.0/)