While Rust chooses how to capture variables on the fly mostly without type
annotation, this ambiguity is not allowed when writing functions. When
taking a closure as an input parameter, the closure's complete type must be
annotated using one of a few traits. In order of decreasing restriction,
they are:
Fn: the closure captures by reference (&T)FnMut: the closure captures by mutable reference (&mut T)FnOnce: the closure captures by value (T)On a variable-by-variable basis, the compiler will capture variables in the least restrictive manner possible.
For instance, consider a parameter annotated as FnOnce. This specifies
that the closure may capture by &T, &mut T, or T, but the compiler
will ultimately choose based on how the captured variables are used in the
closure.
This is because if a move is possible, then any type of borrow should also
be possible. Note that the reverse is not true. If the parameter is
annotated as Fn, then capturing variables by &mut T or T are not
allowed.
In the following example, try swapping the usage of Fn, FnMut, and
FnOnce to see what happens:
// A function which takes a closure as an argument and calls it.
fn apply<F>(f: F) where
// The closure takes no input and returns nothing.
F: FnOnce() {
// ^ TODO: Try changing this to `Fn` or `FnMut`.
f();
}
// A function which takes a closure and returns an `i32`.
fn apply_to_3<F>(f: F) -> i32 where
// The closure takes an `i32` and returns an `i32`.
F: Fn(i32) -> i32 {
f(3)
}
fn main() {
use std::mem;
let greeting = "hello";
// A non-copy type.
// `to_owned` creates owned data from borrowed one
let mut farewell = "goodbye".to_owned();
// Capture 2 variables: `greeting` by reference and
// `farewell` by value.
let diary = || {
// `greeting` is by reference: requires `Fn`.
println!("I said {}.", greeting);
// Mutation forces `farewell` to be captured by
// mutable reference. Now requires `FnMut`.
farewell.push_str("!!!");
println!("Then I screamed {}.", farewell);
println!("Now I can sleep. zzzzz");
// Manually calling drop forces `farewell` to
// be captured by value. Now requires `FnOnce`.
mem::drop(farewell);
};
// Call the function which applies the closure.
apply(diary);
// `double` satisfies `apply_to_3`'s trait bound
let double = |x| 2 * x;
println!("3 doubled: {}", apply_to_3(double));
}std::mem::drop, Fn, FnMut, and FnOnce