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Auto merge of #49896 - SimonSapin:inherent, r=<try>
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Add inherent methods in libcore for [T], [u8], str, f32, and f64

# Background

Primitive types are defined by the language, they don’t have a type definition like `pub struct Foo { … }` in any crate. So they don’t “belong” to any crate as far as `impl` coherence is concerned, and on principle no crate would be able to define inherent methods for them, without a trait. Since we want these types to have inherent methods anyway, the standard library (with cooperation from the compiler) bends this rule with code like [`#[lang = "u8"] impl u8 { /*…*/ }`](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/1.25.0/src/libcore/num/mod.rs#L2244-L2245). The `#[lang]` attribute is permanently-unstable and never intended to be used outside of the standard library.

Each lang item can only be defined once. Before this PR there is one impl-coherence-rule-bending lang item per primitive type (plus one for `[u8]`, which overlaps with `[T]`). And so one `impl` block each. These blocks for `str`, `[T]` and `[u8]` are in liballoc rather than libcore because *some* of the methods (like `<[T]>::to_vec(&self) -> Vec<T> where T: Clone`) need a global memory allocator which we don’t want to make a requirement in libcore. Similarly, `impl f32` and `impl f64` are in libstd because some of the methods are based on FFI calls to C’s `libm` and we want, as much as possible, libcore not to require “runtime support”.

In libcore, the methods of `str` and `[T]` that don’t allocate are made available through two **unstable traits** `StrExt` and `SliceExt` (so the traits can’t be *named* by programs on the Stable release channel) that have **stable methods** and are re-exported in the libcore prelude (so that programs on Stable can *call* these methods anyway). Non-allocating `[u8]` methods are not available in libcore: #45803. Some `f32` and `f64` methods are in an unstable `core::num::Float` trait with stable methods, but that one is **not in the libcore prelude**. (So as far as Stable programs are concerns it doesn’t exist, and I don’t know what the point was to mark these methods `#[stable]`.)

#32110 is the tracking issue for these unstable traits.

# High-level proposal

Since the standard library is already bending the rules, why not bend them *a little more*? By defining a few additional lang items, the compiler can allow the standard library to have *two* `impl` blocks (in different crates) for some primitive types.

The `StrExt` and `SliceExt` traits still exist for now so that we can bootstrap from a previous-version compiler that doesn’t have these lang items yet, but they can be removed in next release cycle. (`Float` is used internally and needs to be public for libcore unit tests, but was already `#[doc(hidden)]`.) I don’t know if #32110 should be closed by this PR, or only when the traits are entirely removed after we make a new bootstrap compiler.

# Float methods

Among the methods of the `core::num::Float` trait, three are based on LLVM intrinsics: `abs`, `signum`, and `powi`. PR #27823 “Remove dependencies on libm functions from libcore” moved a bunch of `core::num::Float` methods back to libstd, but left these three behind. However they aren’t specifically discussed in the PR thread. The `compiler_builtins` crate defines `__powisf2` and `__powidf2` functions that look like implementations of `powi`, but I couldn’t find a connection with the `llvm.powi.f32` and `llvm.powi.f32` intrinsics by grepping through LLVM’s code.

In discussion starting at #32110 (comment) Alex says that we do not want methods in libcore that require “runtime support”, but it’s not clear whether that applies to these `abs`, `signum`, or `powi`. In doubt, I’ve **removed** them for the trait and moved them to inherent methods in libstd for now. We can move them back later (or in this PR) if we decide that’s appropriate.

# Change details

For users on the Stable release channel:

* I believe this PR does not make any breaking change
* Some methods for `[u8]`, `f32`, and `f64` are newly available to `#![no_std]` users (fixes #45803)
* There should be no visible change for `std` users in terms of what programs compile or what their behavior is. (Only in compiler error messages, possibly.)

For Nightly users, additionally:

* The unstable `StrExt` and `SliceExt` traits are gone
* Their methods are now inherent methods of `str` and `[T]` (so only code that explicitly named the traits should be affected, not "normal" method calls)
* The `abs`, `signum` and `powi` methods of the `Float` trait are gone
* The `Float` trait’s unstable feature name changed to `float_internals` with no associated tracking issue, to reflect it being a permanently unstable implementation detail rather than a public API on a path to stabilization.
* Its remaining methods are now inherent methods of `f32` and `f64`.

-----

CC @rust-lang/libs for the API changes, @rust-lang/compiler for the new lang items
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bors committed Apr 14, 2018
2 parents 21dae95 + 5eea099 commit 968de88
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4 changes: 3 additions & 1 deletion src/liballoc/lib.rs
Expand Up @@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
#![deny(missing_debug_implementations)]

#![cfg_attr(test, allow(deprecated))] // rand
#![cfg_attr(not(test), feature(core_float))]
#![cfg_attr(all(not(test), stage0), feature(float_internals))]
#![cfg_attr(not(test), feature(exact_size_is_empty))]
#![cfg_attr(not(test), feature(generator_trait))]
#![cfg_attr(test, feature(rand, test))]
Expand All @@ -90,6 +90,8 @@
#![feature(collections_range)]
#![feature(const_fn)]
#![feature(core_intrinsics)]
#![cfg_attr(stage0, feature(core_slice_ext))]
#![cfg_attr(stage0, feature(core_str_ext))]
#![feature(custom_attribute)]
#![feature(dropck_eyepatch)]
#![feature(exact_size_is_empty)]
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