rust-lang / rust-lang/rfcs

Extend interior mutability (e.g. Cell) for better composition with other types.

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Description

A couple of ideas were outlined in this reddit comment.

1: Implementing the API for Cell<Rc<T>> and Cell<Vec<T>>: requires a lot of unsafe.

There might be a way to provide mutable access to the contents of Cell via Cell::with_mut(|mut_ref| {...}) and have the compiler prove that the closure cannot reach the Cell::with_mut entry point, but it's not something we can express right now.

2: Turning &mut T into multiple aliases with Cell semantics:

impl<T: Copy> Cell<T> {
    fn from_mut(x: &mut T) -> &Cell<T> {
        unsafe { mem::transmute(x) }
    }
}

I am not certain this is UB-free, but if it isn't, I still expect @glaebhoerl's CellRef<'a, T> suggestion to work.

cc @nikomatsakis

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  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading the linked Reddit discussion and the two proposed directions in this issue: APIs for Cell<Rc> and Cell<Vec>, and converting &mut T into Cell semantics. Review the safety concerns around unsafe, Cell::with_mut, and CellRef. The work is complete only when a technically sound, agreed-upon API direction is specified.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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