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Improve transmute docs with further clarifications
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Closes #82493.
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Lonami committed Mar 6, 2021
1 parent 8e863eb commit fbc1741
Showing 1 changed file with 18 additions and 9 deletions.
27 changes: 18 additions & 9 deletions library/core/src/intrinsics.rs
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -846,6 +846,12 @@ extern "rust-intrinsic" {
/// destination value, then forgets the original. It's equivalent to C's
/// `memcpy` under the hood, just like `transmute_copy`.
///
/// Because `transmute` is a by-value operation, alignment of the *transmuted values
/// themselves* is not a concern. As with any other function, the compiler already ensures
/// both `T` and `U` are properly aligned. However, when transmuting values that *point
/// elsewhere* (such as pointers, references, boxes…), the caller has to ensure proper
/// alignment of the pointed-to values.
///
/// `transmute` is **incredibly** unsafe. There are a vast number of ways to
/// cause [undefined behavior][ub] with this function. `transmute` should be
/// the absolute last resort.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -965,7 +971,13 @@ extern "rust-intrinsic" {
/// assert_eq!(b"Rust", &[82, 117, 115, 116]);
/// ```
///
/// Turning a `Vec<&T>` into a `Vec<Option<&T>>`:
/// Turning a `Vec<&T>` into a `Vec<Option<&T>>`.
///
/// To transmute the inner type of the contents of a container, you must make sure to not
/// violate any of the container's invariants. For `Vec`, this means that both the size
/// *and alignment* of the inner types have to match. Other containers might rely on the
/// size of the type, alignment, or even the `TypeId`, in which case transmuting wouldn't
/// be possible at all without violating the container invariants.
///
/// ```
/// let store = [0, 1, 2, 3];
Expand All @@ -991,14 +1003,11 @@ extern "rust-intrinsic" {
///
/// let v_clone = v_orig.clone();
///
/// // The no-copy, unsafe way, still using transmute, but not relying on the data layout.
/// // Like the first approach, this reuses the `Vec` internals.
/// // Therefore, the new inner type must have the
/// // exact same size, *and the same alignment*, as the old type.
/// // The same caveats exist for this method as transmute, for
/// // the original inner type (`&i32`) to the converted inner type
/// // (`Option<&i32>`), so read the nomicon pages linked above and also
/// // consult the [`from_raw_parts`] documentation.
/// // This is the proper no-copy, unsafe way of "transmuting" a `Vec`, without relying on the
/// // data layout. Instead of literally calling `transmute`, we perform a pointer cast, but
/// // in terms of converting the original inner type (`&i32`) to the new one (`Option<&i32>`),
/// // this has all the same caveats. Besides the information provided above, also consult the
/// // [`from_raw_parts`] documentation.
/// let v_from_raw = unsafe {
// FIXME Update this when vec_into_raw_parts is stabilized
/// // Ensure the original vector is not dropped.
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