rust-lang / rust-lang/rust-clippy
Lint using blocks in compound expression operators
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Description
Consider the following code:
#[derive(Copy, Clone)]
struct MyAdd;
impl std::ops::AddAssign<MyAdd> for MyAdd {
fn add_assign(&mut self, other: MyAdd) {}
}
fn main() {
let lhs = &mut MyAdd;
let rhs = MyAdd;
*{println!("LHS"); lhs} += {println!("RHS"); rhs};
}
This code uses a block express as both the LHS and RHS of a compound assignment operator (+=). This code is not only difficult to read - its execution order depends on the type of the expression produced by the block (see https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/28160 and https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/61572).
As written, this code prints:
LHS
RHS
However, this nearly identical code:
fn main() {
let lhs = &mut 25;
let rhs = 30;
*{println!("LHS"); lhs} += {println!("RHS"); rhs};
}
prints:
RHS
LHS
That is, the evaluation order of the LHS and RHS is dependent on whether or not the type used is a primitive or not.
Using a block expression with a compound assignment operator is a bad idea in and of itself - it's very difficult to read, and makes it unclear what is actually happening. However, the inconsistent evaluation order makes this even worse - a seemly unrelated change (e.g. changing the type of a variable earlier up in a function) can result in the execution order of other expressions changing.
It would be useful if Clippy were to lint the use of anything other than a variable, literal, or (chain of) method calls with a compound assignment operator.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the two Rust examples in the issue and compare their evaluation order for primitive and user-defined types. Use the examples to define the lint's scope and verify that it flags non-simple operands of compound assignment while permitting variables, literals, and method-call chains.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- devtools
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100