Merge pull request #1251 from adamchalmers/achalmers/impl-trait

Fix #1060: add page on Impl Trait

src/SUMMARY.md

@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@
     - [Operator Overloading](trait/ops.md)
     - [Drop](trait/drop.md)
     - [Iterators](trait/iter.md)
+    - [impl Trait](trait/impl_trait.md)
     - [Clone](trait/clone.md)
 
 - [macro_rules!](macros.md)

src/fn/closures/output_parameters.md

@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 # As output parameters
 
 Closures as input parameters are possible, so returning closures as 
-output parameters should also be possible. However, returning closure types 
-are problematic because Rust currently only supports returning concrete 
-(non-generic) types. Anonymous closure types are, by definition, unknown 
-and so returning a closure is only possible by making it concrete. This 
-can be done via boxing.
+output parameters should also be possible. However, anonymous 
+closure types are, by definition, unknown, so we have to use 
+`impl Trait` to return them.
 
 The valid traits for returns are slightly different than before:
 
@@ -21,16 +19,16 @@ dropped as soon as the function exited, leaving invalid references in the
 closure.
 
 ```rust,editable
-fn create_fn() -> Box<Fn()> {
+fn create_fn() -> impl Fn() {
     let text = "Fn".to_owned();
 
-    Box::new(move || println!("This is a: {}", text))
+    move || println!("This is a: {}", text)
 }
 
-fn create_fnmut() -> Box<FnMut()> {
+fn create_fnmut() -> impl FnMut() {
     let text = "FnMut".to_owned();
 
-    Box::new(move || println!("This is a: {}", text))
+    move || println!("This is a: {}", text)
 }
 
 fn main() {
@@ -44,10 +42,10 @@ fn main() {
 
 ### See also:
 
-[Boxing][box], [`Fn`][fn], [`FnMut`][fnmut], and [Generics][generics].
+[`Fn`][fn], [`FnMut`][fnmut], [Generics][generics] and [impl Trait][impltrait].
 
-[box]: ../../std/box.md
 [fn]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/ops/trait.Fn.html
 [fnmut]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/ops/trait.FnMut.html
 [fnbox]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/boxed/trait.FnBox.html 
 [generics]: ../../generics.md
+[impltrait]: ../../traits/impl_trait.md

src/trait/impl_trait.md

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# impl Trait
+
+If your function returns a type that implements `MyTrait`, you can write its return type as `-> impl MyTrait`. This can help simplify your type signatures quite a lot!
+
+```rust,editable
+use std::iter;
+use std::vec::IntoIter;
+
+// This function combines two Vec<i32> and returns an iterator over it.
+// Look how complicated its return type is!
+fn combine_vecs_explicit_return_type<'a>(
+    v: Vec<i32>,
+    u: Vec<i32>,
+) -> iter::Cycle<iter::Chain<IntoIter<i32>, IntoIter<i32>>> {
+    v.into_iter().chain(u.into_iter()).cycle()
+}
+
+// This is the exact same function, but its return type uses `impl Trait`.
+// Look how much simpler it is!
+fn combine_vecs<'a>(
+    v: Vec<i32>,
+    u: Vec<i32>,
+) -> impl Iterator<Item=i32> {
+    v.into_iter().chain(u.into_iter()).cycle()
+}
+```
+
+More importantly, some Rust types can't be written out. For example, every closure has its own unnamed concrete type. Before `impl Trait` syntax, you had to allocate on the heap in order to return a closure. But now you can do it all statically, like this:
+
+```rust,editable
+// Returns a function that adds `y` to its input
+fn make_adder_function(y: i32) -> impl Fn(i32) -> i32 {
+    let closure = move |x: i32| { x + y };
+    closure
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    let plus_one = make_adder_function(1);
+    assert_eq!(plus_one(2), 3);
+}
+```
+
+You can also use `impl Trait` to return an iterator that uses `map` or `filter` closures! This makes using `map` and `filter` easier. Because closure types don't have names, you can't write out an explicit return type if your function returns iterators with closures. But with `impl Trait` you can do this easily:
+
+```rust,editable
+fn double_positives<'a>(numbers: &'a Vec<i32>) -> impl Iterator<Item = i32> + 'a {
+    numbers
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|x| x > &&0)
+        .map(|x| x * 2)
+}
+```