Rust Lifetimes

Introduction

A lifetime is a construct the compiler (or more specifically, its borrow checker) uses to ensure all borrows are valid.

Specifically, a variable’s lifetime begins when it is created and ends when it is destroyed. While lifetimes and scopes are often referred to together, they are not the same.

Take, for example, the case where we borrow a variable via &. The borrow has a lifetime that is determined by where it is declared.

As a result, the borrow is valid as long as it ends before the lender is destroyed. However, the scope of the borrow is determined by where the reference is used.

showcase:

// Lifetimes are annotated below with lines denoting the creation
// and destruction of each variable.
// `i` has the longest lifetime because its scope entirely encloses
// both `borrow1` and `borrow2`. The duration of `borrow1` compared
// to `borrow2` is irrelevant since they are disjoint.
fn main() {
    let i = 3; // Lifetime for `i` starts. ────────────────┐
    //                                                     │
    { //                                                   │
        let borrow1 = &i; // `borrow1` lifetime starts. ──┐│
        //                                                ││
        println!("borrow1: {}", borrow1); //              ││
    } // `borrow1 ends. ──────────────────────────────────┘│
    //                                                     │
    //                                                     │
    { //                                                   │
        let borrow2 = &i; // `borrow2` lifetime starts. ──┐│
        //                                                ││
        println!("borrow2: {}", borrow2); //              ││
    } // `borrow2` ends. ─────────────────────────────────┘│
    //                                                     │
}

Note that no names or types are assigned to label lifetimes. This restricts how lifetimes will be able to be used as we will see.

需要注意的是，lifetime需要开发人员自己去标记出来，IDE并不会帮助你标记一个变量的lifetime。

从上面的代码可知，i的lifetime和scope的周期完全不同，scope周期 <= lifetime周期。

---

Elision annotation

Some lifetime patterns are overwhelmingly(强制地) common and so the borrow checker will implicitly add them to save typing and to improve readability. This process of implicit addition is called elision. Elision exists in Rust solely because these patterns are common.

The following code shows a few examples of elision. For a more comprehensive description of elision

// `elided_input` and `annotated_input` essentially have identical signatures
// because the lifetime of `elided_input` is elided by the compiler:
fn elided_input(x: &i32) {
    println!("`elided_input`: {}", x);
}

fn annotated_input<'a>(x: &'a i32) {
    println!("`annotated_input`: {}", x);
}

// Similarly, `elided_pass` and `annotated_pass` have identical signatures
// because the lifetime is added implicitly to `elided_pass`:
fn elided_pass(x: &i32) -> &i32 { x }

fn annotated_pass<'a>(x: &'a i32) -> &'a i32 { x }

fn main() {
    let x = 3;

    elided_input(&x);
    annotated_input(&x);

    println!("`elided_pass`: {}", elided_pass(&x));
    println!("`annotated_pass`: {}", annotated_pass(&x));
}

---

Functions

Ignoring elision, function signatures with lifetimes have a few constraints:

• any reference must have an annotated lifetime.
• any reference being returned must have the same lifetime as an input or be static.

Additionally, note that returning references without input is banned if it would result in returning references to invalid data. The following example shows off(强调) some valid forms of functions with lifetimes:

// One input reference with lifetime `'a` which must live
// at least as long as the function.
fn print_one<'a>(x: &'a i32) {
    println!("`print_one`: x is {}", x);
}

// Mutable references are possible with lifetimes as well.
fn add_one<'a>(x: &'a mut i32) {
    *x += 1;
}

// Multiple elements with different lifetimes. In this case, it
// would be fine for both to have the same lifetime `'a`, but
// in more complex cases, different lifetimes may be required.
fn print_multi<'a, 'b>(x: &'a i32, y: &'b i32) {
    println!("`print_multi`: x is {}, y is {}", x, y);
}

// Returning references that have been passed in is acceptable.
// However, the correct lifetime must be returned.
fn pass_x<'a, 'b>(x: &'a i32, _: &'b i32) -> &'a i32 { x }

//fn invalid_output<'a>() -> &'a String { &String::from("foo") }
// The above is invalid: `'a` must live longer than the function.
// Here, `&String::from("foo")` would create a `String`, followed by a
// reference. Then the data is dropped upon exiting the scope, leaving
// a reference to invalid data to be returned.

fn main() {
    let x = 7;
    let y = 9;

    print_one(&x);
    print_multi(&x, &y);

    let z = pass_x(&x, &y);
    print_one(z);

    let mut t = 3;
    add_one(&mut t);
    print_one(&t);
}

如果function有返回值，则返回值必须声明lifetime。

---

Example

Case: Explicit annotation

// `print_refs` takes two references to `i32` which have different
// lifetimes `'a` and `'b`. These two lifetimes must both be at
// least as long as the function `print_refs`.
fn print_refs<'a, 'b>(x: &'a i32, y: &'b i32) {
    println!("x is {} and y is {}", x, y);
}

// A function which takes no arguments, but has a lifetime parameter `'a`.
fn failed_borrow<'a>() {
    let _x = 12;

    // ERROR: `_x` does not live long enough
    //let y: &'a i32 = &_x;
    // Attempting to use the lifetime `'a` as an explicit type annotation
    // inside the function will fail because the lifetime of `&_x` is shorter
    // than that of `y`. A short lifetime cannot be coerced into a longer one.
}

fn main() {
    // Create variables to be borrowed below.
    let (four, nine) = (4, 9);

    // Borrows (`&`) of both variables are passed into the function.
    print_refs(&four, &nine);
    // Any input which is borrowed must outlive the borrower.
    // In other words, the lifetime of `four` and `nine` must
    // be longer than that of `print_refs`.

    failed_borrow();
    // `failed_borrow` contains no references to force `'a` to be
    // longer than the lifetime of the function, but `'a` is longer.
    // Because the lifetime is never constrained, it defaults to `'static`.
}