10. Associated Items¶

Syntax

AssociatedItem ::=
    OuterAttributeOrDoc* (AssociatedItemWithVisibility | TerminatedMacroInvocation)

AssociatedItemWithVisibility ::=
    VisibilityModifier? (
        ConstantDeclaration
      | FunctionDeclaration
      | TypeAliasDeclaration
    )

Legality Rules

10:1 An associated item is an item that appears within an implementation or a trait.

10:2 An associated constant is a constant that appears as an associated item.

10:3 An associated function is a function that appears as an associated item.

10:4 An associated type is a type alias that appears as an associated item.

10:5 An associated type shall not be used in the path expression of a struct expression.

10:6 An associated type with a TypeBoundList shall appear only as an associated trait type.

10:7 A generic associated type is an associated type with generic parameters.

10:8 A lifetime parameter of a generic associated type requires a bound of the form T: 'lifetime, where T is a type parameter or Self and 'lifetime is the lifetime parameter, when

• 10:9 The generic associated type is used in an associated function of the same trait, and

• 10:10 The corresponding lifetime argument in the use is not the 'static lifetime and has either an explicit bound or an implicit bound that constrains the type parameter, and

• 10:11 The intersection of all such uses is not empty.

10:12 An associated implementation constant is an associated constant that appears within an implementation.

10:13 An associated implementation constant shall have a constant initializer.

10:14 An associated implementation function is an associated function that appears within an implementation.

10:15 An associated implementation function shall have a function body.

10:16 An associated implementation type is an associated type that appears within an implementation.

10:17 An associated implementation type shall have an initialization type.

10:18 An associated trait constant is an associated constant that appears within a trait.

10:19 An associated trait function is an associated function that appears within a trait.

10:20 An associated trait type is an associated type that appears within a trait.

10:21 An associated trait type shall not have an initialization type.

10:22 An associated trait type has an implicit core::marker::Sized bound.

10:23 An associated trait type of the form

trait T {
    type X: Bound;
}

10:24 is equivalent to a where clause of the following form:

trait T where Self::X: Bound {
    type X;
}

10:25 A method is an associated function with a receiver.

Examples

trait Greeter {
    const MAX_GREETINGS: i32;

    fn greet(self, message: &str);
}

struct Implementor {
    delivered_greetings: i32
}

impl Greeter for Implementor {
    const MAX_GREETINGS: i32 = 42;

    fn greet(mut self, message: &str) {
        if self.delivered_greetings < Self::MAX_GREETINGS {
            self.delivered_greetings += 1;
            println!("{}", message);
        }
    }
}

10:26 Generic associated type with lifetime bound.

trait LendingIterator {
    type Item<'x> where Self: 'x;

    fn next<'a>(&'a mut self) -> Self::Item<'a>;
}