Inconsistent errors when passing functions as arguments.
Open
Nobody has claimed this yet.
A-diagnostics
C-bug
D-inconsistent
T-compiler
- Dominant language
- Rust
- Stars
- 119k
- Forks
- 16.1k
- PR merge metrics
- PR metrics pending
Description
I tried this code:
fn main() {
foo(bad);
bar(&bad);
}
fn foo(_: fn(i32)) {}
fn bar(_: &'static dyn Fn(i32)) {}
fn bad() {}
I expected to see this happen:
error[E0593]: function is expected to take 1 argument, but it takes 0 arguments
--> bug.rs:2:9
|
3 | foo(bad);
| ^^^ expected function that takes 1 argument
...
10 | fn bad() {}
| -------- takes 0 arguments
|
= note: required for the cast from `&fn() {bad}` to `&'static (dyn Fn(i32) + 'static)`
error[E0593]: function is expected to take 1 argument, but it takes 0 arguments
--> bug.rs:3:9
|
3 | bar(&bad);
| ^^^^ expected function that takes 1 argument
...
10 | fn bad() {}
| -------- takes 0 arguments
|
= note: required for the cast from `&fn() {bad}` to `&'static (dyn Fn(i32) + 'static)`
error: aborting due to 2 previous errors
Some errors have detailed explanations: E0308, E0593.
For more information about an error, try `rustc --explain E0308`.
Instead, this happened:
error[E0308]: mismatched types
--> bug.rs:2:9
|
2 | foo(bad);
| --- ^^^ incorrect number of function parameters
| |
| arguments to this function are incorrect
|
= note: expected fn pointer `fn(i32)`
found fn item `fn() {bad}`
note: function defined here
--> bug.rs:6:4
|
6 | fn foo(_: fn(i32)) {}
| ^^^ ----------
error[E0593]: function is expected to take 1 argument, but it takes 0 arguments
--> bug.rs:3:9
|
3 | bar(&bad);
| ^^^^ expected function that takes 1 argument
...
10 | fn bad() {}
| -------- takes 0 arguments
|
= note: required for the cast from `&fn() {bad}` to `&'static (dyn Fn(i32) + 'static)`
error: aborting due to 2 previous errors
Some errors have detailed explanations: E0308, E0593.
For more information about an error, try `rustc --explain E0308`.
The errors are inconsistent with the fn() getting less clear of an error than the dyn Fn.
Meta
rustc --version --verbose:
rustc 1.86.0 (05f9846f8 2025-03-31) (Homebrew)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: 05f9846f893b09a1be1fc8560e33fc3c815cfecb
commit-date: 2025-03-31
host: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
release: 1.86.0
LLVM version: 19.1.7
Backtrace
N/A
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 compiling the reported bug.rs reproducer with rustc and compare the diagnostics for foo(bad) and bar(&bad). Trace the compiler diagnostic paths for function-pointer and dyn Fn argument mismatches, then add coverage showing that both cases produce consistent, clear errors.
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