rust-lang / rust-lang/rust-clippy

`ManuallyDrop<T>::clone` should trigger a lint

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A-lint
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Rust
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Description

What it does

ManuallyDrop implements Clone when T: Clone, but I've found that this is often not what I want to do. For example, I may have code that looks like this:

struct MyStruct {
  state: Rc<State>,
}

...

fn spawn_state_task(data: &MyStuct) {
  let state = data.state.clone();
  spawn(async move { state.do_something() });
}

In the future, I change state to ManuallyDrop<Rc<X>> and update the Drop impl correctly, but neglect to update spawn_state_task(). The code continues to compile, but we've got a memory leak.

If you wish to clone the value inside of a ManuallyDrop and continue controlling the drop lifetime manually, you should do it via the explicit ManuallyDrop::clone call rather than .clone() or Clone::clone, both of which may mask a memory leak. If you wish to clone the object and return to automatic drop lifetime management, you should use (*value).clone() instead to deref the ManuallyDrop first.

Advantage
  • Explicit detection of potential memory leak sites when switching T to ManuallyDrop<T> where T: Clone
  • Clear display of sites where a new ManuallyDrop struct is creates from a clone, and require an additional drop call
Drawbacks
  • This is more verbose in the case where you actually want to clone the ManuallyDrop
Example
struct MyStruct {
  state: Rc<State>,
}


fn spawn_state_task(data: &MyStuct) {
  let state = data.state.clone();
  spawn(async move { state.do_something() });
}

Could be written as:

struct MyStruct {
  state: Rc<State>,
}


fn spawn_state_task(data: &MyStuct) {
  let state = (*data.state).clone();
  spawn(async move { state.do_something() });
}

or

struct MyStruct {
  state: Rc<State>,
}


fn spawn_state_task(data: &MyStuct) {
  let state = ManuallyDrop::clone(data.state);
  spawn(async move { state.do_something() });
}

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

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

Use the issue's ManuallyDrop::clone examples as the behavioral reference, and inspect Clippy's existing lint conventions before choosing an implementation location. Done means the relevant implicit clone forms trigger a lint while explicit ManuallyDrop::clone and dereferenced cloning remain valid, with coverage for the examples described here.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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