failed type inference when indexing vec-of-vec in closure
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- Dominant language
- Rust
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- 119k
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Description
I tried this code:
fn main() {
let v: Vec<Vec<u64>> = vec![vec![7]];
let f = |x, y| v[x][y];
}
I expected to see this happen: code compiles successfully
Instead, this happened:
Compiling playground v0.0.1 (/playground)
error[[E0282]](https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/error_codes/E0282.html): type annotations needed
--> src/main.rs:3:20
|
3 | let f = |x, y| v[x][y];
| ^^^^ cannot infer type
The strange thing is that type inference for x and y work fine, it's the intermediate temporary's type that can't be inferred.
This snippet works:
fn use_closure(_f: impl Fn(usize, usize) -> u64) {}
fn main() {
let v: Vec<Vec<u64>> = vec![vec![7]];
let f = |x, y| -> u64 {
let tmp: &Vec<u64> = &v[x];
tmp[y]
};
use_closure(f);
}
Meta
Version: happens with both 1.86.0 stable and 1.88.0-nightly (2025-04-02 d5b4c2e4f19b6d703737)
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 closure example in src/main.rs and compare it with the working version that explicitly types the intermediate reference. Trace the compiler's type inference for nested indexing and identify why the temporary type is not inferred. Done means the original snippet compiles without annotations and the regression is covered by an appropriate compiler test.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- compilers
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100