rust-lang / rust-lang/rfcs

Lifetime error returning a tuple, one value referencing the other

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Description

Consider the following block of code:

struct Foo<'a> {
    bar : &'a Bar
}

struct Bar {}

fn test<'a>() -> (Bar, Foo<'a>) {
    let bar = Bar {};
    let foo = Foo { bar : &bar };

    (bar, foo)
}

fn main() {
    let (bar, foo) = test();
}

which gives the following error:

error[E0515]: cannot return value referencing local variable `bar`
  --> main.rs:11:5
   |
9  |     let foo = Foo { bar : &bar };
   |                           ---- `bar` is borrowed here
10 | 
11 |     (bar, foo)
   |     ^^^^^^^^^^ returns a value referencing data owned by the current function

However the tuple returns the two values together, one of which contains a reference to the other. The compiler should be able to identify that the ownership of bar is transferred out of the function alongside the reference to it.

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First steps

  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 reproducing the minimal Rust example in the issue and reading the E0515 diagnostic. Investigate the compiler's ownership and lifetime analysis for tuple returns where one value references another; done means establishing and implementing a well-defined outcome for this case, with regression coverage for the example.

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
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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