forward_ref_generic

This crate serves as a standalone extension of forward_ref to optionally support generics.

The forward_ref_* macros are macros used by the rust's core library to more easily implement Operations on primitive types. When implementing an operation op like Add or Mul for a type T, the std::ops documentation recommends implementing the operation not just for T op T but also for T op &T, &T op T and &T op &T. In practice, the implementations of those variants for Copy types is somewhat trivial and cumbersome to do. Since those trivial implementations are basically the same for all Copy types, one can use the forward_ref_* macros to get them implemented automatically.

There are existing solutions for this (one of them the aforementioned forward_ref crate, as well as impl_ops), however none of them (or at least none I could find) support generic types. That is to say, if one has a type like Point<T> {x: T, y: T}, so far it was necessary to implement all variants by hand. This crate offers macros that also support generic types, including trait bounds, so the only assumption left is that the type the operation is implemented on is Copy.

There are seperate macros offered for types of operations:

• Unary Operators like Neg: forward_ref_unop
• Binary Operators like Add: forward_ref_binop
• Assignment Operators like AddAssign: forward_ref_op_assign

Usage

Add this to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
forward_ref_generic = "0.2"

For usage of the macros, refer to the documentation or see the examples below.

Examples

std::ops's Point example

Let's use the std::ops's Point example to see how one would usually implement this, and how it can instead be done using forward_ref_* macros:

use std::ops::Add;

#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialEq)]
struct Point {
    x: i32,
    y: i32,
}

impl Add for Point {
    type Output = Self;

    fn add(self, rhs: Self) -> Self::Output {
        Self {x: self.x + rhs.x, y: self.y + rhs.y}
    }
}

At this point, one can add two points together like so:

let p1 = Point { x: 3, y: 3 };
let p2 = Point { x: 5, y: 2 };
assert_eq!(p1 + p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });

However, using the operator on references will not compile:

let p3 = &p2;
assert_eq!(p1 + &p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 }); // ✖ does not compile
assert_eq!(p1 + p3, Point { x: 8, y: 5 }); // ✖ does not compile
assert_eq!(p1 + *p3, Point { x: 8, y: 5 }); // ✔ compiles

To fix this, one would need to implement Add<&Point> for Point:

impl Add<&Point> for Point {
    type Output = Self;

    fn add(self, rhs: &Self) -> Self::Output {
        Self::add(self, *rhs)
    }
}

let p3 = &p2;
assert_eq!(p1 + &p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });
assert_eq!(p1 + p3, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });

And now we would have to add implementations for &Point + Point and &Point + &Point as well. But that is very verbose and annoying to do. Instead, we can use forward_ref_binop:

use forward_ref_generic::forward_ref_binop;

forward_ref_binop! {
    impl Add for Point
}

let p1 = Point { x: 3, y: 3 };
let p2 = Point { x: 5, y: 2 };
assert_eq!(p1 + p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });
assert_eq!(p1 + &p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });
assert_eq!(&p1 + p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });
assert_eq!(&p1 + &p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });

Support for generics

Let's generalize our Point struct so that it supports members of any type. We can still use forward_ref_binop in that case, but we'll need to tell the macro which generics we used. We will also need to tell it all trait bounds that are required. Note that, for technical reasons, we'll need to add angled brackets [] around the list of generics.

use std::ops::Add;
use forward_ref_generic::forward_ref_binop;

#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialEq)]
struct Point<T> {
    x: T,
    y: T,
}

impl<T> Add for Point<T>
where
    T: Copy + Add<Output = T>,
{
    type Output = Self;

    fn add(self, rhs: Self) -> Self::Output {
        Self {x: self.x + rhs.x, y: self.y + rhs.y}
    }
}

// for the exact syntax required by each macro, refer to the macro's documentation page
forward_ref_binop! {
    [T]
    impl Add for Point<T>
    where T: Copy + Add<Output = T>
}

let p1 = Point { x: 3, y: 3 };
let p2 = Point { x: 5, y: 2 };
assert_eq!(p1 + p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });
assert_eq!(p1 + &p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });
assert_eq!(&p1 + p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });
assert_eq!(&p1 + &p2, Point { x: 8, y: 5 });

Const generics and different RHS

So far, the right hand side of the operation was of the same type as the left hand side. But forward_ref_* macros also optionally support defining a different right hand side. To do so, simply add the RHS-type right after the LHS type like so:

forward_ref_binop! {
    [generics...]
    impl OP for LHS, RHS
    where ...
}

To demonstrate this in action, we'll use a generic Stack-Matrix and implement Mul on it:

use std::ops::{Add, Mul};
use forward_ref_generic::forward_ref_binop;

#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialEq)]
struct Matrix<T, const M: usize, const N: usize> {
    m: [[T; N]; M],
}

impl<T, const M: usize, const N: usize, const L: usize> Mul<Matrix<T, N, L>> for Matrix<T, M, N>
where
    T: Copy + Add<Output = T> + Mul<Output = T>,
{
    type Output = Matrix<T, M, L>;

    fn mul(self, rhs: Matrix<T, N, L>) -> Self::Output {
        // ...
    }
}

forward_ref_binop! {
    [T, const M: usize, const N: usize, const L: usize]
    impl Mul for Matrix<T, M, N>, Matrix<T, N, L>
    where T: Copy + Add<Output = T> + Mul<Output = T>
}

let m1 = Matrix {m: [[1, 2, 2], [2, 1, 2]]};
let m2 = Matrix {m: [[0, 1], [1, 1], [2, 1]]};

assert_eq!(m1 * m2, Matrix {m: [[6, 5], [5, 5]]});
assert_eq!(m1 * &m2, Matrix {m: [[6, 5], [5, 5]]});
assert_eq!(&m1 * m2, Matrix {m: [[6, 5], [5, 5]]});
assert_eq!(&m1 * &m2, Matrix {m: [[6, 5], [5, 5]]});

Custom operators

Notice that in all previous examples, all information the macro required on which operation is supposed to be implemented was the Trait's name. This is done by specifically checking for known Operator Traits and inserting the required method's name from inside the macro. This is currently only done for standard mathematical operators (i.e. not for bitwise operators and not for custom operators). However, one can still use the macros, but the method's name has to be specified in that case. RHS can again be omitted if LHS = RHS:

forward_ref_binop! {
    [generics...]
    impl OP, METHOD for LHS, RHS
    where ...
}

To demonstrate, we will implement the Not unary operator on the std::ops::Not's doc's Answer example:

use std::ops::Not;
use forward_ref_generic::forward_ref_unop;

// notice we have to add the `Copy` trait, as otherwise the macro will not work correctly
#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialEq)]
enum Answer {
    Yes,
    No,
}

impl Not for Answer {
    type Output = Self;

    fn not(self) -> Self::Output {
        match self {
            Answer::Yes => Answer::No,
            Answer::No => Answer::Yes,
        }
    }
}

// this time we use the macro for unary operators and specify the `not` method's name
forward_ref_unop! {
    impl Not, not for Answer
}

assert_eq!(!Answer::Yes, Answer::No);
assert_eq!(!Answer::No, Answer::Yes);

assert_eq!(!&Answer::Yes, Answer::No);
assert_eq!(!&Answer::No, Answer::Yes);

Making an operation commutative

There are also macros to automatically make an operation commutative. That is, for two types T and U, if T binop U is implemented, then one can use commutative_binop to automatically implement U binop T. If T and U are additionally Copy, then T binop &U, &T binop U, &T binop &U, U binop &T, &U binop T and &U binop &T can automatically be implemented with forward_ref_commutative_binop.

use std::ops::Add;
use forward_ref_generic::{commutative_binop, forward_ref_commutative_binop};

// two wrappers for integers
#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
struct Int1(i32);

#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
struct Int2(i32);

impl Add<Int2> for Int1 {
    type Output = i32;

    fn add(self, rhs: Int2) -> Self::Output {
        self.0 + rhs.0
    }
}

// note that the order of `LHS` and `RHS` is that
// of the original operation's implementation
// not that of the created one
commutative_binop! {
    impl Add for Int1, Int2
}

// the order of `LHS` and `RHS` here doesn't matter
// as `LHS binop RHS` and `RHS binop LHS` are both required anyway
forward_ref_commutative_binop! {
    impl Add for Int1, Int2
}

let i1 = Int1(5);
let i2 = Int2(3);

assert_eq!(i1 + i2, 8);
assert_eq!(i2 + i1, 8);

assert_eq!(&i1 + i2, 8);
assert_eq!(i1 + &i2, 8);
assert_eq!(&i1 + &i2, 8);

assert_eq!(&i2 + i1, 8);
assert_eq!(i2 + &i1, 8);
assert_eq!(&i2 + &i1, 8);